Windy Days
by phoebe.a
Summary: Pain is like the wind: it can knock you down and blow you away. But, in the end, you're the one that's going to choose whether you're going to fight it or let it push you down. Naruto X Sakura. Kakashi X Anko. Alternate Universe.
1. In the Life of

**Windy Days**

_Pain is like the wind: it can knock you down and blow you away. But, in the end, you're the one that's going to choose whether you're going to fight it or let it push you down. Naruto X Sakura. Kakashi X Anko. Alternate Universe. Part 4/4 of Days Series/Saga._

_**Chapter One: In the Life of...**_

**HMH Magazine: Office of Anko Mitarashi, Editor and Chief**

"Tell me what you got." Anko Mitarashi leaned coyly into her seat and asked into the receiver.

_/Well, Soleil's manager, Shikamaru Nara has just been engaged to Ino Yamanaka of Yamanaka Flowers./_ The voice replied from the other end of the line. _/They're planning to have a very private wedding in Nara, Japan. Soleil is supposed to fly there in a couple months./_

"Finally, we can change the Naruto—Ino intrigue. Now, we know that it really was a love triangle between Shikamaru, Ino and Naruto." Anko gushed. "This is really good news. And the band is supposed to have a concert next month. Get Kakashi to go with you to take pictures at the concert."

_/Will do. I'll let him in from the back./_

"How much money do you want for this?" Anko said shrewdly. "Is the usual enough for you?"

_/It should do./_

"Okay, so that's fifteen thousand and if you can get me at least three pictures, I'll bump it up to fifty thousand. And, if I can sell some of the reject pictures that Kakashi takes, I'll give you five percent of those profits." Anko dipped back into her chair, the phone tucked between her ear and shoulder. "You're really out-doing yourself. I can't help but think of how well this plan of yours really worked."

_/Thank you, Mitarashi./_

"How many more stories can you get me?" Anko watched as Kakashi entered her office.

_/Just a few more and I'll have enough./_ the voice said before hanging up.

"Good." Anko smiled to herself.

"You called me?" Kakashi asked. "What do you want, Mitarashi?"

"I need you to take pictures at _Soleil_'s next concert in New York next month." Anko grinned. "Go on now, Hatake."

"Fat-chance that's happening," Kakashi turned away. "Get somebody else."

"I'm paying you to do this, and if you don't you'll find yourself living on the streets. I'll black-list you from every company in this city if you don't do as I say!" Anko began to lose her patience. "So, what will it be?"

Kakashi rounded her desk and sat on a corner. He looked her in the eye. Anko met his challenge head-on and glared at the man before her. It wasn't her fault, she told herself; it wasn't her fault that he chose her to be his employer. If he wanted to work for a patsy business, he was free to do so, but if he wanted to work for her, he had to sell his soul to get the story.

"If that's the case, I'll do it then." He smiled and pulled off the desk and grabbed his camera. "How many copies should I make of the pictures I got in the Hyuga wedding?"

"It's up to you, Hatake." Anko spat. "Just get out."

Kakashi looked at the dark-haired woman before him and smiled sardonically.

"I wonder how long it will be before you call me by my first name again." He stated.

Anko jumped out of her seat, pushed him out of the spacious office and slammed the door behind him. She had to send in the stories for _Konoha Press_ in half an hour.

XXXX

Shikamaru had a lot of work to do. Since his vacation back to his hometown was extended two weeks to spend time with Ino and his folks, he was behind in his work. Of course, having Ino finally agreeing to marry him made him the happiest of men. Although, it did not help him now that he was a week behind on Chouji's build up for the band, and Soleil had a concert in a month. He hadn't even purchased his ticket for New York yet. And there was still some stuff on the tabloid magazines, namely _HMH Magazine_, about the band, and none of the stories were flattering. _HMH_ even learned of his escape back to Japan. This time it said that he was taking time off because of the fact that Ino was now primed to marry Naruto and he was just a bitter ex-fiancé. He had wondered how it all happened, how the notorious magazine got his picture while he was out drinking with his buddies.

But, after some research, Shikamaru was sure as to who had been leaking information about the band. He immediately picked up the phone and dialled Lee's number. He picked up right after the first ring.

_/Hello?/_ Lee's chirpy voice answered.

"Lee, I need to talk to you about Sakura." Shikamaru said seriously.

_/What about her?/_ Lee's voice became serious as well after hearing his manager's tone.

"I think that she's leaking out information about _Soleil_ to _HMH Magazine_." Shikamaru stated lowly.

_/I got her background checked way before we had our concert at_ Albert Hall_. And there was nothing out of the ordinary about her./_ Lee said in defence. _/Trust me, Shikamaru, Sakura is a good person. She would not unwittingly hurt a person./_

Shikamaru couldn't hurt his friend, he couldn't hurt Lee by forcing his speculation on the poor bassist without hard evidence. So, the band manager backed off. If Lee was sure that Sakura wasn't the one leaking information, then who was? He needed to find the rat and burn him alive. Shikamaru Nara didn't like being played with, especially by a low life snoop.

"Okay, Lee, I'm sure, you're right. I'm just being overly suspicious, I guess. I can't help it especially when _Soleil_'s reputation is taking such a hit from the tabloids."

_/Shikamaru, I understand. I really hope you find the guy./_ There was a definite pause in Lee's speech before he continued. _/I have to go, Shikamaru, Sakura will be waiting for me at the restaurant./_

Shikamaru listened for the click after the abrupt goodbye and went about his business. Chouji had to be perfect for this concert or else they were going to lose their fan base. Shikamaru immediately got on the phone with _Soleil_'s publicist, Konohamaru Sarutobi, to set up a meeting.

XXXX

Naruto walked down the street, his bright shock of blonde hair was covered by a baseball cap and his eyes shaded by a dark sunglasses. He was on his way to buy this week's groceries when he spotted Sakura waiting in front of a restaurant, phone in hand. It looked like she was waiting for Lee whilst calling him.

"Hey!" He hollered as he waved to her from across the street.

She only turned away towards the restaurant entrance. Maybe she didn't recognize him with his disguise.

"Hey, Sakura!" He yelled, this time she turned to him.

"Oh, hello, Naruto," Sakura looked surprised to see him. "I was just on my way to meet up with Lee. Did you want to join us for an early lunch?"

"Nah, I was on my way to buy groceries, and I wouldn't want to be a third-wheel on your date." Naruto took off his sunglasses. "Where is Lee anyway? He's usually pretty early."

"Yeah, he said that he got held up by a phone call of some sort. He'll be here soon." Sakura straightened her floral skirt.

"I'll see you later then." Naruto saluted goodbye. "Tell Lee I said hi."

"Yeah, of course," Sakura chirped. "See ya."

Naruto turned to leave and walked to the mall. He put his sunglasses back on and zipped up his coat. He wasn't cold, he just felt like it. It felt like an extra layer of protection from the rest of the world.

"Hey, aren't you Naruto Uzumaki from _Soleil_?" A woman asked him as he entered the _Foods Mart_.

"No," He denied the allegation. "People always ask me that, who is this Naruto-person anyway?"

"Nice try, but you're wearing a _Soleil_ ball cap." The woman pointed out.

"It's a gift," he shrugged. "How am I supposed to know _Soleil_'s a band? Did you know that it means 'Sun' in French?"

The woman eyed him suspiciously. "Alright," she said before walking away.

He sighed in relief. He definitely would not want to get mobbed at a mall. He didn't like big crowds, so he always shopped in the morning. And he always shopped online for Christmas presents. Only Shikamaru and the others knew that he was a little claustrophobic. He realized his fear when he was twelve and his class went to a zoo for a field trip. Since he never followed the rules, he separated from the class, got lost and was accidentally locked in a fox's caged-pen. There must have been a whole family of them eyeing him when the gates locked behind him.

He still remembered the dark eyes of the beasts inside the cage. He desperately tried to get out, but instead was almost killed. All he remembered of the incident was getting a chunk of his thigh bitten off and bleeding profusely as he called for help. He didn't know how long it was before someone found him, probably all but ten minutes, but it felt like hours.

From then on, he'd been afraid of small enclosed places. No matter how old he got and how big, he would always turn back to the scared little boy who couldn't get out. That was why he vowed never to be caged again. Naruto Uzumaki was never going to be held down or shoved into a caged box ever again.

Naruto pushed his cart and filled it with food. It was mostly meat and junk food snaks, and ice cream. One thing others had envied him for was his exceptionally fast metabolism. He could eat as much as he wanted and not gain an ounce.

Once he paid for his grocery items, Naruto walked back to his apartment with the food bags in tow. He was sucking on a Popsicle as he crossed the streets. It didn't take too long before he entered his studio apartment.

"What should I do now?" He asked himself. "Maybe the guys are free."

He took hold of the phone; the not-so-long cord prevented him from going no further than the bed area. Naruto dialled Shikamaru's number first before hanging up after the first ring.

"No, I shouldn't bother Shikamaru, he's probably planning his wedding and getting ready for the concert this weekend." He once again dialled digits into the phone. "Maybe Kiba's free."

Again, he hung up before there was an answer. He remembered that Kiba had taken Hinata back to Japan for a couple months. He tried calling Neji, but no one was answering.

"Crap, I forgot that Neji and Tenten are in America for vacation." Naruto scratched his head, wondering who to call next. Lee, of course, would be out of the question, considering that he was probably on a date with the beautiful Sakura. That left only Shino, the only fellow, unattached bachelor in the_ Soleil_ group.

The phone rang twice, and then another six before an automated message from Shino came on the line.

_/Hello, I'm busy. Leave a message. Thanks./ _was all Shino's voice said.

"Damn it, Shino, you were my only hope." Naruto laid himself flat on his back on convertible couch-bed. "I guess that leaves only me and my thoughts."

A few minutes later, Naruto shook his head. He wasn't a thinker, he couldn't think for long periods of time. Whenever he tried to think, it only made him tired or hungry. So, he walked through a small corridor to the kitchen and started to boil some water for his usual lunch meal: Ramen noodles. Of course, he didn't possess any culinary skills, so this ramen dish was prepared by the famous, _Mr. Noodle_. He put on the radio and started to sing a duet with Billy Joel.

_What's the matter with the clothes I'm wearing?_

_Can't you tell that you're tie's too wide?_

_Maybe I should buy some old tab collars_

_Welcome back to the age of jive_

Naruto slipped on his dirty grey socks as he sang and danced to the song. He shook his masculine rump to the beat, wooden spoon in hand. He let Billy take most of the vocals before joining the legend in the last line of the chorus.

_Everybody's talking 'bout the new sound, funny, but it's still rock 'n' roll to me!_

Naruto danced like a buffoon until the ramen was in edible condition. He took a pair of wooden chopsticks from the last time he had take-out and started eating from the pot. It wasn't like he was going to share with anybody anyway. And he'd save some space for other things to wash in his dishwasher.

He took off his shirt and wrapped it around the still-hot pot and ate from it like a bowl. There was a knock at his door before he even had time to reach for the remote.

"Aw, who is it now?" Naruto got up off his seat and waddled to the door, just wearing his jeans.

He peeked through the peep hole before opening the door.

"Hello, Naruto, I was just in the neighbourhood and I realized that I haven't visited my favourite nephew in a while." Jiraya pushed the door wide open and waltzed in.

"What do you want now, old man?" Naruto longingly stared at his ramen with a sigh.

"Well, as you might know, I was invited to Shikamaru and Ino's wedding...again." Jiraya took the chopsticks and pot from Naruto and sat when Naruto had settled himself before. "Hopefully they stick this time."

"Hey, that's mine!"

"Be respectful to your elders," Jiraya quoted. "Besides, I can't have you getting pudgy and fat before your concert this weekend. I got tickets and everything."

"If you can afford the tickets, it means that you still have money. So, what do you want from me, then?" Naruto felt that his ramen was a lost cause and pulled out a bag of chips from the kitchen cabinet.

"Is that what you really think of me?" Jiraya feigned hurt. "I don't want money from you."

"What do you want then?"

"I want a story." Jiraya told him.

Naruto scratched his head, confused.

Seeing his nephew's confused state, Jiraya decided to explain.

"You see, there's this editor, Anko Mitarashi—" Jiraya explained.

"Shikamaru said that she's the one writing stories about us on _HMH Magazine_. She's found out all of the band's dealings even about Shikamaru's fight with Ino." Naruto cut off his Godfather. "She's not to be trusted, old man."

"I know, and I want to help you." Jiraya answered. "My business has been suffering because of Anko's little side business. And I can't fire her because of her tenure as editor of _Konoha Press_."

Naruto still gave him a vacant look.

"You own _Konoha Press_?" He said a moment later.

"Yes, remember I told you that I was a writer, but that's beside the point." Jiraya smiled weakly. "There have been people spreading rumours that _Konoha Press_ is becoming a tabloid paper. And less and less people have been subscribing to our news paper and visiting our website. They'd rather get news from the _Times_ or _Journal_. The top news sites are trying to branch out into Konoha's area. I can't have it go on any longer. Shareholders are starting to have doubts about the paper's future. "

"So, what do you want me to do about it?" Naruto shrugged, still munching away at his chips. "I don't know anything about newspapers, I don't even read them. I only read the comics."

"Well, that's when I got a call yesterday evening from someone in _HMH Magazine_." Jiraya now smiled toothily. "He, I think that it's a 'he', said that _HMH_ is planning to get into _Soleil_'s concert next month. I want you to find Anko's contact so I can get rid of him once and for all. When Anko's business' secret is out, it won't take long before _HMH _is a thing of the past. And Konoha Press can rebuild its reputation with or without Anko Mitarashi."

"How do you know that this contact of yours is telling the truth?"

"Well, I don't know if he's telling the truth, but I'm not going to lose anything if I follow the tip."

"Okay, I'll do it. It sounds fun." Naruto took a handful of chips and stuffed it in his mouth. Stray pieces of the junk food stuck to his bare chest before he brushed them towards the sink.

"Good, and once you find out who it is, you'll tell me right?"

"What are you going to do to him?"

"Take him to the police, of course." Jiraya told him. "I don't want to kill him; I just need him out of the way. Everybody knows that _HMH Magazine_ is only successful for being the first to get information on _Soleil_. Once the snoop is out of the way, _HMH_ just becomes another tabloid magazine that people read, but don't buy, while waiting in grocery lines."

After another hour spending time with his Godfather, Naruto just wanted the old man to leave. He only managed the feat when he suggested that he could find someone to go with Jiraya to Ino and Shikamaru's wedding.

"So, what's her name?" Jiraya had asked on his way out.

Naruto tried to think of all the old women he knew. Chiyo-san? No, she was ancient. Maybe he could set the old man on a date with old lady Tsunade. Yeah, the crazy doctor lady who had almost bashed him over the head for forgetting to bring the right prescription bottle for Hinata's appointment. She'd be perfect.

"So, Naruto, what's her name?" Jiraya asked pleadingly. "More importantly, is she a looker?"

"I'd say that she'd fit your description of a 'looker'. Blonde, blue eyes, busty..." Naruto rubbed his chin, smiling. "And she's a doctor."

"Come on, tell me, what's her name?" Jiraya begged for the third time.

"It's Tsunade, Dr. Tsunade." Naruto announced.

"Ah, the fair doctor shall have the time of her life as my date." Jiraya left the studio apartment with only melodious words for the fair, 'Doctor Tsunade'.

Naruto shut the door only too quickly once he left. "Too bad, he doesn't know that Dr. Tsunade is his age."

* * *

A/N:

Thank you for all of those who stayed with this series for so long. Please note that this is just an introductory chapter so that all readers will be on the same page. Please review to tell me what you think of the start. It sort of just lays down a little foundation. Tell me if you think that this chapter was good or bad. I really need your input as a reader, because I want to make the finale of this series the best it can be. The next chapter will delve deeper into Kakashi and Anko's relationship, so for those who like those pairings, stay tuned. Again, thank you for all of those who reviewed in previous parts of this series, you know who you are.


	2. From Lover's Past

_**Chapter Two: From Lover's Past**_

Anko Mitarashi walked quickly down the street, brushing past anonymous faces, her cell phone in hand. She was talking to her assistant, to make sure that all her meetings were in order.

"So, what are we going to do with the piece with Naruto Uzumaki and Ino Yamanaka? I have information that Ino is engaged to Shikamaru Nara. Yes, he's the manager." She answered her assistant's question. "Make sure that Kakashi is on it, I need good photos for this. I need to have them on my desk the day after the concert. Yes, tell him that."

Anko hung up the phone and walked to her favourite cafe. It was the only place that she went to because it not only sold the best brewed coffee in Konoha; it also sold the best pastries and dumplings. After receiving her order and looking around to find a place to sit, she noticed that Kakashi was sitting by himself in one of the window-facing tables reading a book.

She walked to his table and plopped herself down on the seat across from him. At first he didn't pay her any attention, but when he finished reading his current page, he turned to her and acknowledged her presence.

"Anko," he said before turning back to his book.

Anko, a person who didn't like to be ignored, had to hold her tongue from rebuking her co-worker. Instead she took a bite from her dumpling and watched the city scene beyond the window. She was determined not to let Kakashi get the best of her. She knew that he always did this, knowing which buttons to press to make her tick.

"You know, Kakashi, you could give me a little more respect. I am paying you." She told him offhandedly.

This time, Kakashi turned his gaze to her; his lazy eyes making contact with hers.

"I do respect you," to told her evenly. "But, you're not paying me right now, are you?"

"Well, I don't know if you girlfriend recently broke up with you or something, but I just want you to know that I don't appreciate you trying to annoy me on purpose." Anko took another bite of her meal. "I mean, we're not in grade school anymore. If you have a problem with me, then say it to my face."

"Anko, how long have we known each other?" Kakashi mused, changing the subject.

"I don't know," she shrugged, "Eight—maybe, ten, years? Wait, how long did you work for _Konoha Press_ before you joined _HMH_ again?"

"Six years," he stated stoically. "So, I heard that you went out with Ibiki a couple weeks ago."

"Yeah, he's a great guy." She told him, her face animated. "I know that he's a cop and all, and I guess it's the danger factor that's always attracted me at first, but he's just too intense."

"You don't like him, then?"

"No, Hatake, I'm in love with him and I want to have his kids," she answered dryly.

Kakashi turned back to his book with a shrug.

"Oh, so you're going right back to ignoring me?" Anko snapped waspishly. "What is your problem anyway?"

"I've been in love with you for ten years, but you still don't want to marry me and have my kids," Kakashi said monotonously. "That's my problem."

Anko got up from her seat. "Oh, stop joking, Hatake, I might fire you."

She quickly threw away her rubbish and took her purse from the table top before waving a quick goodbye to her employee.

"Work starts in half an hour, try to make it on time, okay?"

Kakashi watched her walk away. She always ignored his feelings for her. It was like she wore a shield against him at all times. Even if he seriously said that he loved her, she would always turn around and tell him to stop kidding around. And to add insult to injury, she would start dating a guy and made sure to let him know about it. He'd been in love with her for the better part of a decade, but still his love was unanswered. Just once more, he'd like to hear his first name uttered from her lips. But he knew he ruined that a long time ago.

XXXX

**Four Years Ago**

Kakashi was determined to tell Anko that he had feelings for her. He was determined to get her to go on a date with him. The times he'd ask her out, she had either stood him up or ignored his wishes. He waltzed into her office at _Konoha Press_ and asked her if they could talk at the paper's cafeteria. Anko, being a workaholic, had finished her work ahead of time, and didn't find it a big deal to go with Kakashi for lunch. Besides, she had skipped dinner and breakfast so she was hungry. Kakashi followed her and they sat down in the busy tables. They had to wait until a couple of writers finished their lunch before sitting down.

"So, what do you want to eat, Kakashi?" she said as she browsed through the menu. "I think I'll get the chef's salad and a piece of that chocolate mousse cake."

"I'll pay," he said.

"No, it's alright, I can pay for my own meal. We're not on a date or anything." She replied absentmindedly.

"Anko, I have to tell you something." He told her after they had purchased their meal.

Anko took a bite of her salad and sipped from her water bottle. "What is it?"

"Do you like me?" he asked her.

"Yeah, I mean I've known you for like almost six years. And the pictures that you do for the paper is fantastic, it's like you copy the image of what's real and permanent it on paper." Anko said as she flipped her hair back. "You have a real talent there, Kakashi."

"Can I talk to you in your office about something important afterwards?"

"What about?" Anko was suddenly suspicious of his motive.

Once they had finished their meals, they solemnly walked back to Anko's office.

"You didn't show up yesterday." He told her, regarding their date at _The Red Poppy Restaurant_.

"Oh, about that, I had this article on the soy products and its overall effects on the human body. Jiraya wanted me to finish it as soon as possible so he can run the health section by this evening. Plus, on top of that, I had to do some research on my next article on the national band competition happening in a couple of months. So far, there are only a few bands that have entered. One college band actually looks promising, _Soleil_, I think they're called." Anko was desperate to change the subject.

"I waited for over two hours." He simply told her.

"Well, you shouldn't have. I mean, you know I'm always punctual, if I don't show up on time, you know I'm not coming." Anko said defensively. "And, I did tell you that I might not make it, didn't I?"

"Anko, you know that I love you, right?" he asked her.

Anko wasn't surprised at his admission, he had told her many times before that he loved her. And she always pretended to think that he was joking around. But, today, his stoic, serious features didn't allow her to push his feelings aside once again.

"Yes," she said, "I know."

Kakashi hadn't expected her to admit it, but his heart swelled at the thought.

"If that's the case, why can't you just tell me if you return my feelings for you?"

"I don't know, Kakashi." Anko said looking down. "I don't want to ruin our friendship. And I don't have the same feelings for you that I have for other men that I've liked."

Kakashi eyed her for a moment, not saying a word. When he did speak it was rough with emotion. He wasn't one to show his feelings, but Anko always pushed the envelope with him.

"My name on your lips is torture to me." He stated. "Every time you smile at me or joke around me it gives me hope that one day you'll finally accept me. I can't live without loving you, but I'm dying not being loved by you. Please, Anko, put me out of my misery and give me an answer. If you say 'go to hell' that's what I'll do."

Anko's hazel eyes, watched the tortured man before her. She could distinctly remember her mother who gave up everything for love only to be cast aside. Her mother would have been a successful business woman, everything Anko was now, but she chose to love instead of having a successful career. And in turn, her father ran away and left the two of them alone. Her mother had died thinking that Anko's father would come back to her.

"Love, as you call it is an illusion. I refuse to be its pawn. I've seen its effects first hand, and I don't want it to happen to me. You can tell me as much as you like that you love me, but the words disgust me. I hate the sound of it, Kakashi." Anko looked him in the eye, it was the last time she said his first name.

Kakashi watched her sadly. "I pity and envy you, Anko." He told her before he left.

He had left her for a year to go back to Japan to visit family, but found that he couldn't part from her for too long. Something about her compelled him to stay at her side until the bitter end. That was why he decided to join _HMH Magazine_ as her photographer when he got back.

He was willing to take anything and everything she gave him, even if he could only watch her at work. Her office was right next to his. Sometimes when they pulled late nights together, she would invite him into her office and he could watch her read and edit articles. He took in every moment with her as if it were a mental picture. When she was reading a light piece, her tiny smile would slowly become a wide grin. And when she read sad, heartbreaking articles, her brows would knot and her mouth turned down into a pathetic pout.

Years later and he was still in the same boat. He was her lap dog, her confidant: the only man who would be so vulnerable as to fall so completely in love with her.

XXXX

**Present Day: HMH Magazine**

Kakashi watched Anko from his office. Only half an inch of glass-wall separated him from being in the same room as her. He looked down at the photos he took at Neji and Tenten Hyuuga's wedding. He got one of Naruto and Ino dancing. Naruto smiling broadly, and Ino wearing a coy, becoming smile. In the background, he could see Shikamaru Nara glaring at the fair-haired couple.

Another picture he took was of Shikamaru and Sakura, heads almost touching as they were in deep conversation. Kakashi was able to spot a frown on Ino in the background as she sat with a pale man he didn't know the name of. Jealousy had been evident on their faces at one point or another. That was why he wasn't surprised when Anko had announced their upcoming nuptials. He had always wondered what had happened to the two young lovers from years back.

"They've been in love with each other from the beginning." He told himself. He still remembered that night he met Ino almost four years ago at the _Red Poppy_ where Anko had stood him up for the umpteenth time. Ino had loved Shikamaru for all those years. She was a young thing then, but had the aged wisdom to tell him that deep down all women just wanted to be loved. He was sure that if he stuck with Anko long enough, she would need him more than just an employee. Someday, he though, she would choose him over all.

XXXX

Little did Kakashi know, Anko had already chosen him. Anko, being a prideful woman, would never admit it to him, but she would steal glances at him from her office desk when she was certain that he wasn't watching. Keeping her gazes secret from him was hard as it is with him always looking into her office stealing glances at her. She found that she could only look at him when he was busy with a deadline. That was one reason why she overworked him; another being that she knew that he would always come through for her.

She liked watching his facial expressions when he muddled over which photographs to use. There were some articles that were just as heartbreaking as they were scandalous, and she would watch him sport a fretful grimace as he scratched his head during selection.

Of all the men she knew, Kakashi was the only one didn't let her down. Yes, he would disappear for a year or two when she broke his heart time and again, but he would always come back. She knew that he was different from other men, he was the man that her father never was, but she didn't want to give up her career to take things slowly. She didn't want to lose the conveniences of her life, her independence. She was selfish and knew that with a single name, she could irrevocably change her life. Kakashi was gentleman enough to give her the advantage in their relationship.

"Kakashi," she sighed wishing that she could say his name to him without causing him pain. But she knew, that neither of them were ready to take their relationship to the next level without some concessions.

Anko found herself thinking about the first time she had kissed him. She found that she was consistently distracted by such girly thoughts. She hated herself for it, but found that it wasn't something she could help. Once again she was brought back to the day when she first realized that Kakashi Hatake had feelings for her, and the first time she realized that she had to guard her heart completely from him or face the consequences.

XXXX

_It was after an office party back in Konoha Press and she and Kakashi were the only ones not drinking. It wasn't because she couldn't handle a little alcohol; it was mainly because she was a control freak and hated not being in control of herself if she got drunk. And Kakashi had said he didn't care for its taste._

_They had watched co-workers make fools of themselves when Kakashi suggested that they leave the party to go out for a late dinner. She had agreed back then, knowing that the party was now just an excuse for co-workers who had crushes on each other to admit their feelings in a drunken haze._

_She had entered Kakashi's car back then without a second thought. He put on her seatbelt for her because the lock was finicky, he said. She leaned back into her seat as he drove to Giordano's, a popular Italian cafe. Once there, they were greeted by Arturo, the owner._

_"Hello, Kakashi, you have brought a lady friend this time, no?" the older man asked him regarding Anko._

_"She's a co-worker actually." Kakashi answered before introducing the two. "Anko, this is Arturo, he makes the best coffee in town and the best pastries in the world. Can I order half a dozen of the usual, Arturo, to go."_

_"Okay, I'll be back. Meanwhile, take a seat while you wait." The man grinned. Kakashi had told him of a woman that he had liked at Konoha Press with expressive eyes and a habit for wearing long trench coats in any occasion; just like the woman before him._

_Arturo made sure to bring them to the best table of the house. Kakashi deserved that at least._

_Once seated and Arturo had left to fill their order, an awkward silence fell over the couple. Kakashi searched for words to say as Anko looked outside the window of the shop absentmindedly. It wasn't until Arturo returned that Kakashi and Anko looked at each other's eyes._

_"I guarantee that you'll love this," Kakashi held up a piece of flaky, sweet cheese bread when they'd exited the restaurant._

_"I'm not in the mood for pastries." She told him._

_Kakashi ignored her and kissed her on the cheek. When Anko was about to admonish his unprofessional behaviour, he quickly popped a piece of the heavenly confection in her mouth. Her rebuke ended on a moan of both surprise and pleasure. After swallowing the morsel, she held out her hand signalling to her co-worker to hand her a whole portion of the pastry._

_"I told you it was good." He teased. "Let's go for a little walk, I don't think that Arturo meant for his world-famous rolls to be eaten in an old, beat up car."_

_Anko, not liking being told that she was wrong, and unable to admit her defeat, linked her arm around his as they walked down the near empty street. She knew that if she put up a fuss with his suggestion, Kakashi would only rub it in her face. Besides, the cheese roll pastries really were to die for. The couple walked, food in hand enjoying the stroll. Although, it didn't take long before Anko realized that she didn't know where they were going or where she was. When she voiced her concerns, he only pulled her closer to him and entwined his fingers with hers._

_They were not lovers, she thought, and tried to pull away from his grasp._

_"Just once let me know the feeling of being with you," he pleaded. "Nothing 'unprofessional' as you'd call it; just let me hold your hand. It's cold," he noted._

_She felt the need to argue with him fade. She didn't need to make a scene. Kakashi was the best of men. Minutes later, their stroll ended on her doorway. She hadn't even realized that they had entered her neighbourhood. Kakashi looked up at her longingly, ever since he had started working for Konoha Press two years ago, she knew that he had feelings for her. She took a step up the stoop which brought her about eye level with him._

_She took her cool palm and caressed his cheek. He closed his mis-matched eyes as he sighed, relieved. She then pressed her lips to his uncovered cheek._

_"Good night, Kakashi Hatake," she told him._

_"One more," he asked her, begging for another kiss. "Right here," he said pointing at his lips._

_Anko was shocked that the man before her would actually have the gall to ask such a question. But, it didn't stop her from taking another step up the stoop to lean down and kiss him where he had asked. Maybe it was the long-repressed woman in her that caused her to make the decision or maybe it was because she genuinely liked him, but she made no complaints when he had cupped her face in his warm hands and pulled her closer, thus deepening their kiss._

_She hadn't realized her mistake until they had pulled away and she saw the adoring love in his eyes. Love—she hated love._

A/N:

I hope that Kakashi X Anko lovers like this chapter. It has been difficult for me to write this last part of the series because of the multiple characters and because of the multiple plots. But, my main challenge in finding time to write. My schedule is pretty much booked, so the only time I write is when I have insomnia.

I would like to thank Elviella specifically who reviewed the first chapter, as well as those who read and reviewed this series, it has really gotten me to realize that there are people who actually care about these characters in the situation that I wrote them in. Your words and feedback have been a great inspiration to me, I appreciate them all. Thank you. Please feel free to send me your thoughts; be candid about it too. I only really learn from my mistakes when someone points it out.

The next chapter will expand on Naruto's character. And, for those who thought that _Sunny Days_ ended too soon, the next chapter is an epilogue of sorts for the Kiba X Hinata pairing.


	3. Baby, Baby, Baby OH!

_**Chapter Three: Baby, Baby, Baby OH!**_

"Naruto hurry," Kiba all but dragged his friend down the hall. "I can't miss the birth of my child and if I do, I have you to blame!"

The buddies ran down the hospital corridors to where Hinata had started going into labour about an hour ago. The dark-haired woman had insisted that even though it was the baby's due date that she didn't feel sick at all and wanted Kiba to go with Naruto to the studio to practice a possible new single for _Soleil_. But, on their way to the recording studio, they had received word from Ino that Kiba's lovely wife's water had broken and was going into labour.

Kiba ran into Hinata's room and was met with a gruesome sight. His wife was sweaty and yelling, actually more like screeching, in pain. He was tempted to back away the way he came when Hinata had screamed out his name.

"Yes," he was quickly at her side, held her hand and pressed it to his lips. "I'm here, what is it?"

"How could you do this to me?" she said on a sob. His face fell. "It hurts!"

"I'm sorry," he whispered. The tension in his gut made him sick. He never would have wanted to hurt Hinata. He pressed his cool lips onto her warm, sweaty forehead. "Just think of the baby."

"I'm thinking that I'm not letting you touch me again!" she hollered into his ear, so there was no way he would misunderstand what she meant. "Oww!" she said on a low groan.

Dr. Tsunade was the one delivering the baby. Her scrubs and hands were covered in blood.

"Hinata, honey, I need you to push, in five seconds." She instructed Kiba and Naruto to pull up Hinata's bent legs toward her stomach when the labouring woman pushed, "Five...four...three...two...one...and push!"

Hinata made a sound akin to a banshee and pushed.

"That's good, Hinata." Tsunade said.

"Is he out yet?" Hinata asked as she grew weary.

"I think that he'll be out in three more pushes, okay?" Tsunade said, "Just three more, Hinata."

"Three's too much," the blind woman whined, in amassed pain. She squeezed Kiba's hand until it turned purple. Kiba hid his own pain by fanning his wife with a baby names book he had in his pocket. "The baby can just stay in there for now."

"Darling, the baby can't stay there," Kiba said in a soft soothing voice. "We already have the nursery ready. It's blue and everything."

"I don't care if the nursery's bloody blue! I just want him out of me!" Hinata bent forward again and pushed; letting out a sound that was half wailing and half grunting.

Tsunade re-positioned her hands. "One more push and the baby will be crowning. Hinata, focus your pain on pushing."

"Aahhh!" Hinata gave a war cry minutes later when another contraction hit. Sweat poured off her, energy leaving her.

She pushed and pushed until it ebbed. But, there was little relief for her; the cycle only started again.

Kiba eyed Naruto who was at the other side of Hinata's bed. Naruto had never seen or heard Hinata so angry before, and he was sure that Kiba hadn't either. He turned a pale colour. He never wanted to get married and have babies if nice, beautiful women like Hinata would be put through so much pain.

"You have two minutes until the last push, okay, Hinata?" the good doctor said in a soothing, patient voice, "Just a few more minutes until you see your beautiful baby boy."

For the first time during the ordeal, Hinata actually smiled for the first time. She thought about her baby and hoped that he would inherit his father's good looks.

"It's the final push, Hinata. Make this one count." Tsunade got her hands around the baby's crown and waited for Hinata's scream of victory. When the baby's head was completely out, Tsunade only had less than a moment to turn the baby's shoulder and pull it out of the birth cannal. She gave the baby a courtesy smack in the bottom and it responded fine with a tearful screech.

A nurse gave Kiba a pair of medical scissors to cut the umbilical cord. He did so with pride.

Hinata let out a sob of relief as the contractions died down. The baby was out in a short two hours. She didn't know how her own mother endured twelve hours for her and then fourteen for her younger sister.

"Let me hold him," Hinata demanded, afraid that she was going to fall asleep before she got to hold her son.

"There's a little bit of surprise actually," Tsunade said as she got one of the nurses to get the baby cleaned off. "There seem to have been a mistake at the ultrasound. The baby's a _she_ not a _he_."

Kiba, Hinata and Naruto waited in anticipation for the nurse to come back with the baby. Minutes later, the nurse arrived holding the beautiful bundle of joy in her arms, all cleaned up from blood and gunk.

"Here," the nurse said as she passed the swaddled child to Kiba who, in turn, handed it over to his wife.

"She looks just like her mother." He whispered to his wife, "Drop-dead gorgeous."

Hinata blushed. She was shocked to feel how tiny her daughter was. Tears prickled her unseeing eyes. This was one of the moments she wished that she could see. She wanted to see if her daughter really did look like her or if her father was just being nice. In that instance, Hinata knew that she was blessed. Never had she even dreamed of a moment like this. Before meeting Kiba, she forced herself to be content with being alone. But, now that she had everything that she could hope for, she found that the life that she lived was worth more than eyesight. The life she led was better than anyone could ever imagine. She had a loving husband and a healthy and, she was sure, beautiful daughter. Who could ask for more? Who would ask for more?

Kiba leaned down and pressed a soft kiss on his new daughter's tiny hand. He was sure that he was going to love her forever. He pulled up a chair beside his wife and watched his daughter with awe and wonder. This tiny girl would always be loved, he would make sure of that.

_I'll love you forever_

_I'll love you for always_

_As long as I'm living_

_My baby you'll be_

He sang softly, taking the song from a Robert Munch book that he and Hinata had picked out. Hinata fell asleep hearing the words: _I'll love you for always_. She was certain that she would love Kiba and their daughter always.

Naruto chose to leave the cozy familial scene before him. He felt like an interloper in the moment and decided to be the one to meet and greet everyone outside and tell them the good news. He didn't want to interrupt the trio, so he didn't meddle and ask for the baby's name. Instead he would tell Neji, Tenten, Shikamaru, Ino, Chouji, Lee, Sakura, and Shino—who were waiting outside—that the baby was a healthy baby girl.

XXXX

Kiba, a few moments after finding out that Hinata had fallen asleep, gently held his baby girl to his chest and walked out to show the others.

Ino, Sakura, and a pregnant Tenten immediately squealed in delight as they rushed forward to see the sleeping girl.

"She looks so much like Hinata," Ino remarked as both Sakura and Tenten nodded in agreement. "But, she has your eyes and probably your hair colour." She told the proud father.

"Oh, I can't wait for my baby..." Tenten sighed. "I only hope that I'm as lucky as Hinata and have a speedy labour as well."

"She's gorgeous, Kiba, just wonderfully beautiful." Sakura stated in awe.

Kiba eased away from the women to show off to his band mates and brother-in-law. "So, what do you think?" he asked them. "Pretty as her mama, no?"

"Thank goodness for that!" Neji snapped in good humour. "We wouldn't want her looking like a dog as you do."

Kiba laughed brightly, not even Neji's veiled, sarcastic comments were going to dampen this day. He watched as Neji eyed the little baby with soft, endearing eyes. Kiba was sure that he had to keep her away from her uncle or else she was going to be spoiled rotten.

"Do you have a name for her yet?" Lee asked the father.

"Well, Hinata and I were expecting a boy, so we didn't really look for girl names." Kiba tried to think of a suitable girl name, but failed. "I'm sure that Hinata has one."

Shino held up a box and gave it to his band mate. "Here, it's for the baby." He stated.

Kiba signalled Shino to open the box, revealing a stuffed lady bug with big, round eyes. Kiba chuckled softly, thinking about Shino's odd fascination with bugs. He thanked him and turned to Naruto who uncharacteristically stayed back in a corner.

"Naruto," Kiba spoke roughly. "You're the Godfather."

Naruto's eyes widened. "Me?" he choked, gesturing to himself.

"Yeah, Hinata and I were talking about it, and we both thought that you should be the Godfather." Kiba said and he propped up Naruto's arms and placed his greatest treasure in them.

Naruto held the sleeping girl in his arms with child-like wonder. He was a Godfather, he was the one who was going to take care of this little thing whenever Kiba and Hinata asked him to baby sit. He was the one who was going to give her candy whenever she came over.

"Are you sure I can take care of her?" he asked Kiba, a little scared. "What if I hurt her?"

"You won't," Kiba replied. "Come on, Naruto, buck up and be a man. Only wussies fall into their fears."

Sakura watched as Naruto held the baby in his arms and smiled. She found it cute that he was so careful when holding the tiny thing. Ino, who stood beside her remarked that the blond man would make a good father someday. Tenten agreed and stated that it was up to the three of them to set Naruto up. Sakura turned her gaze from the women before her and made eye contact with Lee. The dark-haired man smiled joyously with teary eyes. She only smiled softly at him.

It wasn't until hours later that Hinata woke up surrounded by family and friends. She grinned widely when she felt their presence.

"What should we call her, Hinata?" Kiba asked his wife.

"I really don't know." She answered. "Maybe, her Godfather, has an idea."

Everyone quickly turned their gaze to Naruto, who hadn't let go of the child in his arms in the last hour. He was busy playing and cooing to her that he didn't hear Hinata's statement. It was a shock to him when he found everyone looking at him anxiously.

"Did I do something wrong?" he said wide-eyed. "Because, I didn't mean to hurt her, I swear!"

He tried to pass off the baby to Kiba.

"Hinata said that you should name her," Kiba said. "Since neither of us can think of a name, it falls into your hands."

"Me? You want me to name her?" Naruto said in disbelief.

He looked down at the child in his arms, all a gurgling ball of bright energy. He paused to think about a name. Moments later, his eyes lit up when he finally decided on a name.

"How about Hikaru?" He said grinning at the child in his arms.

He looked up to see the happy faces of his friends surrounding him. Kiba held Hinata close to him and smiled. Hinata nodded in acquiesce to the name.

"Hikaru," she said smiling brightly, clutching her husband's hand. "It's perfect."

The baby in his arms stirred. She clutched the front of his shirt with her tiny hand. Her beautiful, dark eyes blinked up at him. Naruto's fate was sealed: he was going to be the best Godfather in the world. He already loved the kid and it wasn't even his.

A/N: Again, I must apologize for not updating. It's just that this summer, I've been really busy with work. I have to save up money for school in September. Although, I would like to thank all those who have read and/or reviewed Windy Days thus far. This chapter is a sort of Epiloge for Sunny Days, but also builds on Naruto's character in this story. I really wish that I had more time to write, but I've just been super busy. Please read and review, as I read them all.


	4. Accidental Fall

_**Chapter Four: Accidental Fall**_

Shikamaru Nara was not a happy man, even though he was engaged to the most beautiful woman in the world, the anger that he would usually be able to suppress boiled within him. He read the latest headline on the cover of _HMH_ _Magazine_. The title clearly stated: _A Little Ray of Light in Ex-Soleil Member's Future_ with a picture of Kiba's kid, Hikaru, smeared across the cover. Shikamau was at loss as to how the article was written with such detail, never mind the origin of the picture. Kiba was already out for blood. He demanded that Shikamaru find the paparazzi responsible or there would be hell to pay. He didn't want his daughter, barely a week old, thrown to the media dogs.

And for once, Shikamaru had to agree, _HMH_'s stories were hitting too close to his band's personal lives. The main reason, Kiba had retired in the first place was so that he could start a family in private. Shikamaru tried to think of all the ways Anko Mitarashi and her lap dog, Kakashi Hatake had gotten this story. They were at a private clinic, all the nurses had signed confidentiality forms, and the doctor was Hinata's doctor for years. So, there couldn't have been any possible way for the tabloids to know the exact weight of the baby, her gender or her name, for that matter.

Shikamaru slammed a fist on his desk. He called his assistant to cancel his meetings for the rest of the week. He knew that there had to be a spy in his inner circle of friends; that was the only plausible reason. He would get Naruto and Lee to plan a mini weekend getaway for the group and then he would wheedle out the spy from among them. Since he knew the least about Chouji, _Soleil_'s new drummer, he was going to keep a really close eye on the man and his habits, his hangouts, and any other vices.

Lee had received the call from Shikamaru asking if he and Naruto could help plan a weekend getaway for the gang, away from the tabloids' sight. Originally, Neji Hyuga had offered to fly everyone to a summer home in France, but was quickly smacked up in the head by a very moody and very pregnant Tenten, announcing that she couldn't fly because of her expectant state. She also added that it was mostly, if not, entirely the said Hyuga's fault that she was in such a situation in the first place.

So, Lee decided that a weekend trip to the Uzumaki family's private seaside home, complete with a private beach and secluded surroundings was the way to go. It was only a couple hours out of the city and since it was off season, there wouldn't be anyone using it. Naruto had already okayed the idea and had gone off excitedly to do the preparations.

"So, you're saying that all of us are going to go to Naruto's beachfront home because of the tabloids?" Sakura had asked Lee when he asked if she wanted to come along.

"Yes," he answered. "And I'm sure that there will be a lot of sights to see and wilderness to conquer, it will be so exciting!"

Sakura nodded slowly, she wasn't too sure about conquering the wilderness, but she didn't mind getting a tan before summer ended. Barely after agreeing to go with Lee, she was whisked away by _Soleil_'s bassist to meet up with Naruto. Supposedly, they needed to get the rooms prepared and to plan events to do for everyone to participate in.

XXXX

When a silver minivan had arrived driven none other than Neji, followed by a black SUV driven by Ino; Sakura, Lee and Naruto had exited the gigantic summer house to welcome everyone. They had gotten there a day earlier to make sure that there was enough food in stock and the house was cleaned for baby Hikaru's coming. Sakura was thrilled to be finally included in such a familial affair such as this. She meant to reach for Lee's hand and run out to meet everyone as they exited the vehicles, but instead, she had captured Naruto's. She hadn't realized her action, until she saw Lee ahead of her helping Kiba lift a cooler from the back of the SUV. She turned to Naruto and immediately dropped his hand.

"Sorry, Naruto, I didn't mean to...I thought that you were Lee." She exclaimed, flustered.

"It's no problem, Sakura," he replied with the same husky voice that would croon lovingly into a microphone in song. "I'm glad that you're enjoying yourself."

"It's great that you've invited everyone here, Naruto. I think that it's a great escape for everyone." Sakura smiled cheerfully. "Do you come here often?"

"Yeah, I inherited it from my parents, I don't remember coming here with them though. You see, they died when I was really young. But, supposedly when my mother was pregnant with me, they stayed here until I was born. So, whenever I'm here, I feel like I'm with them." Naruto replied with a soft smile.

Sakura was convinced that Naruto wasn't like the other heartthrobs on TV, he was genuinely human, and that was his appeal and charm. He liked to have fun like other guys, and he had his flaws; his claustrophobia for example. The fact that he seemed attainable was what made him even more unattainable. He was the simple guy-next-door that every woman always traded for the bad boy. Maybe that was her mistake, Sakura thought: she always wanted the bad boy. Lee wasn't her usual type, but she had settled for him because she got too tired running after guys that wouldn't give her the time of day and had decided to go for the guy that wanted her instead. Honestly, it felt nice to be wanted for once, it felt good to be around someone who gave you their full attention.

"I'm glad that you have such a special keepsake like this from your parents."

Naruto smiled brightly at her words, and Sakura was forced to return it with her own sunny smile. The moment was of course interrupted with a loud command from Shikamaru.

"Naruto, stop smiling at pretty girls and get your lazy ass here and help us out!" Shikamaru indicated to the mass of luggage that was spilling out from the trunk of both vehicles. "Neji left to get Tenten inside, he said that she needed to sit down right away."

Naruto took one last look at Sakura's profile and rushed to help out his buddies. He took one suitcase in each hand and started to complain about its weight.

"What does Ino have in this thing? And elephant?" Naruto complained as he carried the purple luggage with _Yamanka Flowers_ stamped across its smooth surface.

"I'm guessing that there're two elephants in the one I'm carrying." Kiba joined in the contest. "I bet I can carry more than any of you lazy slobs!"

"Oh yeah?" Naruto accepted the challenge along with Lee. "We'll see about that, _dad_!"

Even though Kiba is a young father, Naruto couldn't help but tease him about it. "Are you sure that you're back isn't going to bother you later on? Maybe you should get Chouji and Shino help you across the threshold."

"Uzumaki, you better hurry your ass up those stairs with that elephant luggage of yours, because if I catch up to you, you're not gonna live for long!" Kiba retorted with a menacing voice. The statement would have been more believable if the ex-drummer wasn't smiling so widely.

Sakura watched on and envied the two men's family-like bond. Ino came up to the pink-haired woman's side.

"Men and their inflated egos," she said rolling her eyes.

The two women shared a laugh at the comment.

"Sakura, can you help me get Hinata and Hikaru inside?" Ino took hold of Hinata and guided her up the porch stairs. "Hikaru's in the car seat, you can just push the red button to get her out. It looks like her father is too busy trying to kill her godfather to get her out."

Sakura carefully took out Hikaru from the car seat, the baby girl was out like a log. Her soft breathing didn't even change when she was pulled out of the car into Sakura's arms.

"Here, let me help," Lee said as he dropped a suitcase on the ground and helped Sakura get the baby into a more comfortable position. Little Hikaru snuggled her tiny head to Sakura's chest. She made a small cooing sound and settled back into deep slumber.

Lee left to take care of the rest of baggage and followed everyone from way back. Sakura never held such a small baby in her arms before, Hikaru's tiny head could have easily fit in her palm and her clothes were still a little too big for her slight frame.

From the second floor of the house, where he had hidden from imminent death, Naruto smiled at his goddaughter in Sakura's arms.

"Are you smiling at the baby or the woman, Naruto?" Shino asked him from behind.

Naruto looked away distractedly. "I'm smiling at both, Shino."

"She's Lee's girl," Shino said in warning.

"It's such a shame though, stupid of me for not paying attention." Naruto sighed. "I guess that's why we always lose the girl, isn't it Shino?"

"I sorry, but I can't sympathize with you, Naruto. I always get the girl." Shino pushed up his sunglasses and walked away. "Good luck."

Naruto glared at Shino's retreating form. Just because Shino was more successful with the ladies, he didn't have to rub in his face. But Lee really was lucky, thought Naruto: he got a great girl who liked him back. Naruto decided it was probably best if he headed down and get his beating, courtesy of Kiba, over and done with. Like a man heading for the gallows he walked into the common room expecting to be tackled to the ground and a punch to the face. As expected, Kiba didn't disappoint. The former drummer tackled him into the rug where both men wrestled until one man's face was pinned under the other's butt.

"Take it back or I'll fart on your face, Naruto!" Kiba growled.

"I can't breathe..." Naruto choked, his left cheek plastered on the rug as Kiba's backside balanced on the side of his head.

"That's right, and you'll be breathing bodily gases if you don't take back what you said." Kiba said putting more weight on Naruto's face.

"Okay, okay, I'll take it back," Naruto wheezed. "I take it all back!"

Satisfied with the answer, Kiba let his captive free with a triumphant victory cry.

"_Dad_," Naruto hissed when he got up.

Kiba's quickly turned his glare toward him. Naruto quickly ran away. Kiba threw a shoe at him and chased him around the estate. This continued until both men called for a truce. Neji was mildly upset that his niece's father and uncle were complete imbeciles, but Tenten's monologue about his uselessness as a father-to-be kept him very much preoccupied.

Sakura was in the kitchen helping Ino make dinner. Ino had orange chicken baking in the oven and rice boiling in a pot. The two women were currently finishing off the dishes and making small talk. Ino was going on about how her pending nuptials were going to leave her hand crippled because of all the invitations she had to write.

"Shikamaru can't do anything to help because his printing is illegible. I cringe just imagining his cursive." Ino babbled.

Sakura tried to ignore her envy of Ino's life. Ino already had the man, and was basically down the aisle and she had a successful business. Sakura wondered how long it would be before she got her happy ending. Actually, she wouldn't be so picky. She wouldn't care if her finance had horrible writing, just as long as he showed up for the wedding. Was it too much to ask for a good, exciting guy? Maybe she should ask Ino, Tenten and Hinata where they ordered their prince charming. For some reason, Sakura couldn't see herself with Lee for the rest of her life. He was good, yes, but exciting? The answer would be a _big_ N-O. Saying that Lee was exciting would be like saying that eating plain cornflakes was exciting. There was nothing wrong with Lee, but his idea of excitement was running up a mountain with hundred-pound weights on his back. His idea of excitement was hard work; and like most people, Sakura did her very best to avoid just that.

Sakura was happy that she had Lee as her friend, but she couldn't continue lying to herself. She had been selfish and wanted Lee as a backup option in case she didn't find the man for her. Right now, Sakura felt that she had developed a little crush on Naruto and it was starting to grow with every passing day spent at his estate. And it wasn't even because he was rich, it was mainly because she saw his kindness and love for people he cared about was etched in everything he did as plain as day and he excited her with his slow strut and quick, boyish smiles.

XXXX

The next day, as Naruto, Sakura and Lee had planned, the group went to the beach. Ino and Chouji had a sleeping Shikamaru buried up to his neck in sand as Tenten and Neji sat cuddled together under a gigantic beach umbrella for a nap. Kiba and Hinata were sitting closer to the water with baby Hikaru in her father's arms. Hinata had laughed at one of Kiba's jokes and Hikaru held her father's index finger in her tiny hand. Lee and Naruto were busy bothering Shino and teasing the poor bug-enthusiast about his pasty skin. Lee then challenged Naruto to a foot race and then a sparing work out.

Sakura watched the entire congregation feeling like an outsider. It was a situation she had nicknamed: snow-globe vision. These were the moments where she longed to belong to the scene before her instead of watching from the outside looking in.

It was then that her cell phone rang. She took a quick glance at the caller ID and got up from her spot on the sandy ground and walked towards the house to the outside change rooms.

Out of the corner of his eye, Naruto saw Sakura leave and head toward the house. He quickly forfeited his match with Lee saying that he had to go to the bathroom really bad as an excuse. He followed Sakura cautiously. Something internal told him that he shouldn't interrupt her.

"Hello," Sakura spoke into the phone. "Yeah, it's me. Well, we're at Naruto Uzumaki's family home at the moment, so I can't meet you."

She paused to listen for an answer before laughing at some statement or comment from the caller. Naruto was curious as to who would call Sakura in the middle of the day. Maybe it was a booking for her job as a model? Or maybe she had a secret lover that Lee didn't know about? As Lee's friend, Naruto refused to stand by and let his friend get hurt. He would find out who Sakura was talking to. Although there wouldn't be a chance on Earth that he would admit it, Naruto was slightly jealous of the caller. He'd never heard Sakura laugh before, and to think that she laughed so much like a child, made him regret even more that he didn't meet her first.

But, of course, he would never step over such a boundary. He would never sacrifice a friend's friendship for the sake of his own gain. Even if he did have a little crush on Sakura—so what? It was only a crush, and he would rather die than act on it. He would never betray a friend like Lee. Not even for a girl.

_This is wrong_, Naruto thought to himself. If he really didn't have any feelings for Sakura, then he wouldn't be spying on her. He wouldn't be eavesdropping on her conversations.

Naruto was about to turn away and leave Sakura to her call, when he heard a familiar name.

"Yes, Anko, I'll get it to you by the end of the two weeks, okay? Don't worry about it, it'll be fantastic." Sakura paced back and forth on the sandy ground. "You can count on me."

"Anko," Naruto whispered the name to himself, the name sounded very familiar. "Where have I heard that name before?"

Sparking his interest once more, Sakura was being watched as she tried to end her call with the mysterious Anko while Naruto listened on. The blond man was intent on trying to remember where he had heard the name Anko before.

Before he knew what was happening, Sakura had appeared before him.

"Oh, Naruto, you startled me!" Sakura jumped back.

"Well, you sort of disappeared, and I was wondering if you were okay. You see, the hill towards the house gets pretty steep. You shouldn't go up by yourself."

"I'm sorry, but I didn't know that that was the case. I'll keep that in mind next time." Sakura excuse herself and went back to the beach where the others were.

Sakura was a little rattled, what was Naruto doing following her around? She wondered how much of her conversation he had heard. She felt unease as she walked back down to the beach. She felt Naruto's presence a little ways behind her. He didn't say a word, he just watched her decent. Sakura was so distracted by her thoughts that she didn't hear Naruto's warning. She tripped on a rock in the trail and felt gravity pull her towards the ground. Sakura shut her eyes expecting to fall flat on her face. At the last moment before she ate dirt, she felt something pull her back up. When she opened her eyes, she was upright and staring into the most beautiful pair of blue eyes she had ever seen.

Naruto blinked back at Sakura's incessant stare. "Are you alright?" he asked her before abruptly pushing her away.

"Yeah," she said in reply.

Naruto took one look back at her and turned away, flustered.

"Um, you should be more careful, Sakura." Naruto noted.

Sakura still watched his every move. For some reason, she couldn't gather her thoughts or find her voice to say anything. Was this what it felt like to be star-struck? Or hit by lightning? When Sakura was finally able to think of words, Naruto was almost a yard away from her.

Naruto had never realized how green Sakura's eyes were before. He could have easily lost himself in them, only if his mind hadn't stopped screaming _'Lee's girl, Lee's girl'_ in an endless tandem. He saw something in her eyes in that solitary moment when he held her in his arms. It was something that he had wanted for so long. It was something that he would have gladly given his life for. But, alas, it wasn't meant for him. What he saw in Sakura's eyes in that moment was something reflected in his own eyes. That something was love.

Sakura never felt so self conscious in her entire life than when she walked down the trail to the beach. For once she cared what somebody thought of her. For some reason, she wanted Naruto to like her, she wanted him to see her as somebody special, and she didn't care how others would perceive it. She unconsciously started to hand-comb her short, pink hair and to fix up her rumpled clothing. Sakura sensed that choosing this path would hurt a lot more than if she just went with the flow and did what everyone expected her to do. But, she was selfish and wanted to experience the same feelings she had in Naruto's arms, she wanted to feel loved.

When Naruto got to the bottom of the incline to the beach, he couldn't resist taking a quick look up. He warily eyed Sakura as she descended the rocky trail. The light breeze from the shore blew her hair in every direction, and her clothes were slightly askew from her fall. But, nothing attracted him more than her eyes watching him.

"What are you looking at?" Sakura asked him when she was within hearing distance.

"I was just thinking that your hair looked like cotton candy," he mused, much to her disappointment. "We should get going, Lee's probably looking for you."

"Yes," Sakura said with a sigh.

Lee would be looking for her. There were times when she hoped that he didn't, but that was his way of showing her he cared.

"There you are, Sakura!" Lee jogged towards his friends. "I was worried that you fell or something."

"I almost fell, but Naruto saved me at the last possible second." Sakura explained before turning to her saviour. "Thank you for saving me, Naruto. I don't think I got the chance to."

"It wasn't a problem," Naruto answered uncomfortably. "I didn't want Lee's girl to fall on her pretty face."

Lee then grabbed hold of Naruto's hands.

"Thank you so much, Naruto for saving Sakura!" Lee bowed his head. "I am so happy that you were there when I wasn't. I am indebted to you. I will do anything you ask."

_Let me have her_, Naruto was tempted to say. _Let me be you for one day so I can fall in love with her freely_.

"You don't owe me anything, Lee." Naruto replied. "I only did what any person would."

A/N:

I would like to apologize for the really long wait for this chapter. My only excuse for the delay is that I lead a very busy life, and writing has sort of taken the back burner on my list of priorities. I actually finished his chapter a month ago, but I'm under such great time constraints that I didn't even have time to post it until now. As for my faithful readers, I beg you not to count me out yet. I promise that I will finish this saga/series. I refuse to be my own pet peeve. (I don't like reading stories that become discontinued and or put on a long hiatus right when it gets good). I hope that I will be able to finish this story by the new year. Please feel free to comment/review. I want to know there is still an interest in this story.


	5. Sick Day at the Bar

_**Chapter Five: Sick Day at the Bar**_

Kakashi woke up to the sound of his cellphone ringing. He groggily rolled toward the nightstand and groped for his phone. It rang another four times before he was able to answer.

"Hello," he rasped.

_/Hatake, I need you here pronto./_ Anko's voice filled his head. _/I need you to get the negatives of the Hyuga wedding and re-print some of the pictures./_

"Anko, it's four in the morning, what are you doing at the office?" The photographer asked his employer. "You should be at home sleeping. You've been there for almost forty-eight hours. I wonder if you've even showered."

_/You'd liked to know that, wouldn't you, Hatake?/_ Anko grumbled. _/And, I don't need sleep or you telling me what to do. It's just been a little busy, that's all. So, are you coming or not?/_

"I'll be there," he said before hanging up. It sucked being in love.

Kakashi groaned once more and rolled out of bed. He put on a rumpled black shirt and his most comfortable pair of jeans. He washed his face and brushed his teeth, but was still too tired to trust himself with a razor, thus foregoing shaving.

It took him an hour before he finally strolled into the _HMH _offices at quarter after five. He walked to his office first to grab the negatives that Anko wanted. He looked through the glass wall into Anko's adjoining office. She was staring at her computer screen with avid attention and didn't even notice that he had arrived. She was biting the end of a pen with a worried look on her face. Kakashi wondered what she was reading.

So he wouldn't startle her, Kakashi knocked softly at her door before entering.

"Here, I got the negatives you wanted." He said in place of a greeting. "And I still have a set of re-prints you can use."

"Thanks, Hatake," Anko took the CD from Kakashi. "You can go now."

Up close, Anko didn't look so well, Kakashi thought to himself. Her hair was messy, from being violently mussed up when she was frustrated about something, and she looked flushed.

"Hey, Anko, you should go home and get some sleep, you don't look too well." He said.

"I didn't ask for your opinion." Anko muttered. "Go away."

"Well, you're the one who called me to come." Kakashi reasoned.

"Yes, I understand that, and now I want you to go away." Anko finally took her eyes off the screen to send a frosty glare at the man who was currently annoying her.

Kakashi looked at her sweaty, and blotchy face. "Seriously, Anko, you have to go home. You look like you have a fever."

"I don't have a fever!" Anko rolled her chair back preparing to stand. She knew that she couldn't take an argument with Kakashi sitting down. The man was persistent as a rule. "And _seriously_, I don't need your input."

Kakashi walked the three paces it took to stand right in front of her. He placed his palm to her forehead. It was burning hot. Only Anko would work through an illness or be so determined to do her job that she would put aside what her body needed.

"You have to rest, you're temperature above normal, and you're sweating."

Kakashi took a peek at the trashcan which janitorial staff changed every two days. The can only contained crumpled papers and heavily-chewed-tip pens. There wasn't a sign of food wrappings or even coffee cups. The garbage hadn't been changed since Wednesday, which was two days ago.

"Have you even eaten anything in the past two days?" he asked her.

"My personal habits are none of your concern." Anko suddenly felt lightheaded at the question of food and the ache in her abdomen that had started about an hour ago was making itself well known. "Just get the hell out of my office. You can do whatever you want in yours, but I don't want you here bothering me with your stupid questions."

"You're not taking care of yourself," Kakashi retorted. "I bet you anything that you're about a minute away from collapsing from exhaustion."

Anko felt her legs wobble. No, she was just fine. The pain in her abdomen was just menstrual cramps, not hunger. Kakashi was just being a sexist jerk, making her believe that she couldn't handle her own workload, well, she'd show him. She felt great. She was only a couple hours away to finally being caught up with everything. Then, she would go home, take a much needed shower, and sleep for the weekend.

"I know my limits." She stated.

"Don't be stubborn, Anko. Clearly, you don't know when enough is enough. Any person would be able to see that you're sick. Sit down."

Kakashi watched as the woman before him leaned a little too far to the left. Her eyes were unfocused, and yet he could still see the disdain and ire burning in them. He studied her slight movement to determine the best way to catch her when, not if, she fell.

Anko was about to finally give Kakashi a piece of her mind when she felt her knees give out from under her. Her body suddenly felt heavy, and there was nothing she could do but succumb to the physics of falling. She closed her eyes in embarrassment, but instead collapsed unconscious in Kakashi's arms, her body a dead weight.

With Anko's head being supported by his neck, Kakashi was able to feel the intensity of her fever. Her breath came in short spurts and her body was limp and boneless. Kakashi hefted her up in his arms and tried to revive her, but she only mumbled nonsensical phrases before becoming completely silent.

"Anko," he called her name. "Hey, wake up will you? Anko, wake up!"

He received no response, a shaky breath left her lips. He tried to check her pulse by supporting her weight on his one arm, but received only a light fluttering.

"I have to get to the hospital." Kakashi said aloud, as he tried to make sense of the barrage of thoughts panicking his mind.

He hauled her up into his arms and ran down the emergency stairway to the main floor. He pushed through the front doors and to his car. He deposited the unconscious woman into the front seat and buckled her seatbelt. He fished his keys out of his pocket as he sprinted around the front of the car. He entered through the driver-side door and started the car. The entire incident could have happened in less than two minutes, but in his mind it stretched into what seemed like hours. Kakashi pulled out of his parking spot and sped to the hospital. Even in the most inappropriate time, he found himself stealing glances at her from the corner of his eye. He was that far gone.

He drove right to the emergency gates and called for help. The hospital was only a few blocks away from the offices, but there was no telling if Anko was alright or not. Kakashi stood on the sidelines and watched as two paramedics and three nurses pulled Anko out of the car and placed her limp body onto a stretcher. One of the medics checked her vitals and demanded that a nurse get the OR ready, they were going straight to surgery.

"What's wrong," Kakashi asked a nurse in dark-blue scrubs. "Why are they taking her to the operating room?"

"It looks like her appendix ruptured," the said nurse answered. "That's why she's so feverish. Her body is already trying to fight off the toxins in her system."

"Is she going to be okay?" he was desperate for a positive answer.

"It looks like she will be, but with these things, you can never really know until after."

"Thank you," Kakashi replied worriedly, dismissing the nurse to his duties.

XXXX

He didn't know how long he stayed in the emergency waiting room. When a doctor finally exited the OR, Kakashi made a beeline for her.

"Hey, Doc, how is she?" he asked her.

"Oh, she's stable now, we've extracted her appendix and her fever's gone down thanks to the painkillers."

"Can I see her?" Kakashi asked.

"I can only allow close family members in." The doctor eyed him suspiciously.

"I'm her fiancé," he lied.

"Okay then, but visiting hours ends in a couple hours. I can't have you staying over without permission from the patient or her immediate family."

Kakashi nodded, silently agreeing. He then followed the doctor to Anko's room.

When the doctor left, Kakashi sat at the plastic chair beside Anko's bed. He watched her closed eyes, hoping that she would wake from her induced slumber so he could tell for himself that she was okay.

He waited until visiting hours were over, but Anko was still out. The same nurse from before, had to walk him out.

"I know that you're worried about her, but she's in good hands. We'll take care of her." The nurse tried to soothe Kakashi's fears, but to no avail. "She just needs to rest up a bit. She was also dehydrated, so maybe when she's back on her feet you can try to get her to take better care of herself."

"I've already tried that, but Anko doesn't listen." He commented. "Sometimes I think that it'll be easier to not love her, but living in a world without her would probably be the hardest."

Kakashi then realized that his car was gone from where he parked at the gate. It most likely got towed hours ago.

"Great, now I have no car, no girl, and no way of getting home. And the only thing that will probably be waiting for me at the mailbox on Monday is a parking ticket and towing fees."

Kakashi fished out his cellphone from his pocket and dialled a number he hadn't dialled in a very long time. The line rang once then twice and on the fifth ring a familiar, grumpy voice answered.

_/What do you want now, asshole?/ _the voice grumbled. _/You don't contact me for almost a year, and then you decide to call me when I'm enjoying the first evening in I've had with my wife in a month. This better be a good reason, Hatake./_

"Asuma, Anko's in the hospital." Kakashi started.

_/Good God, Kakashi, what the hell happened_?/ his tone changed.

"Her appendix ruptured when we were arguing and then…" Kakashi trailed off. "I screwed up bad, didn't I?"

_/Which hospital are you at, I'll pick you up./_ Asuma replied.

"I didn't want to bother you and Kurenai. Forget that I called."

_/Damn it, Hatake, I can't do that. Besides, I don't think the missus is in the mood anyway. She just found out that you're on the phone. Says that you're whining and pining for Anko Mitarashi turns her off./_ Asuma grunted. _/So, where are you?/_

"I'm at Konoha Memorial." Kakashi placated. "Thank you, Asuma. Tell Kurenai, thanks."

_/Tell her yourself, she's trying to grab the ph—/_ the rest of Asuma's words was cut off.

_/Kakashi, you're a spineless coward! If you'd just take her and kiss the brains out of her then you wouldn't have this problem. Or, if you want to do the right thing, just let her go. If she doesn't want you, there's nothing you can do about it. And sulking year after year as she tries to make you jealous by going out with random Joe's, is just not good for any person./_ Kurenai rambled on an unstoppable tirade. _/I can find you ten women that would love you and care for you the way you should be./_

"Thanks Kurenai, but I'll take a pass on the other women." Kakashi remarked.

_/Fine, Asuma already left to pick you up. I hope that one day you'll see that love is a decision, not a memory or feeling that you hold on to. Anko needs to realize that you're worth more than the crap she's been feeding you. And you need to become a man, and show her that she doesn't have control over you./ _she continued to fume. _/Nothing turns off a woman more than pathetic, helpless men./_

"Thanks, Kurenai." Kakashi was grinning now, trying not to laugh. "I'll keep that in mind."

_/Okay, Kakashi,/_ Kurenai sighed in defeat, temper gone. _/You know I worry about you, I can't help it; it's in my nature. But, if you really do love her, you have to get her to see you as someone worth having; you can't roll over and agree with her when she wants her way. You have to be a man!/_

"I know, I'm just biding my time, Kurenai. And if I fail this time around, I promise to take out any one of the ten ladies you were talking about earlier on a date."

_/You got yourself a deal, Hatake./_ Kurenai said smugly. _/I'll let you go now. Make sure that Asuma gets home by four o'clock. He has to go to the bank in the morning./_

"Okay," Kakashi agreed. "I won't keep him long. See you soon, Kurenai."

Kurenai said her goodbye and hung up, leaving Kakashi to wait for the woman's husband. He only waited for fifteen minutes when a black Civic stopped beside him on the curb and a door opened.

"You owe me, Hatake, and I ain't letting you forget it!" was Asuma's greeting. "Get in before you let the cold in."

"Thanks," Kakashi replied gratefully as he entered the car.

"So, what's up?"

"Hey, this car doesn't smell like cigarettes." The photographer noted, changing the subject.

"I quit for Kurenai." Asuma stated curtly. "Woman says that she doesn't want kids with birth defects or asthma."

"Well, good for you."

"I'd rather have my wife tell me that instead of you right now." Asuma grumbled as he turned left and headed for the freeway towards Kakashi's apartment.

"I see that nicotine withdrawal has made you a little grumpy." Kakashi noted.

"No, that's not it." Asuma answered. "It's just that…well…I just want to know how long you're going to follow this chick around. She's not the only woman out there. Why does it have to be her? As a guy, I think it's funny that you put up with everything she's thrown at you, but as your friend, it hurts to see a good friend go to waste. You're a good guy, Kakashi, you deserve a good woman."

Kakashi kept silent for a moment before giving his reply. "I just feel that I have to be near her or die. Do you think I would choose this for myself?"

"Yes, I do think that you chose this for yourself. Kakashi, love isn't forced. You have a choice."

"If that's the case, then I guess I choose her." He answered mutely.

XXXX

The two men finally found a bar nearby and stopped. There weren't a lot of people left and last call was in less than an hour. There were many vacant seats at the bar counter. So, both men sat in silence after ordering a couple beers. Asuma played with the peanuts in the bowl as Kakashi absentmindedly peeled the label from his beer bottle before taking a long pull. He sighed as his lips parted from the cool glass.

"Kurenai and I are trying to get pregnant." Asuma offered the tidbit of information. "She wants a daughter so bad, its making me feel like it's my fault for not knocking her up yet."

Kakashi grinned. "Hey, take it easy. I heard that it's harder to get pregnant the first time. My parents didn't have me until four years after their marriage."

"Yeah, the doctor said that too." The restaurateur replied. "And I don't mind too much the getting her pregnant part. The woman is perfect."

"Lucky bastard," Kakashi smiled wrily. "You know I haven't been with anyone since Anko happened."

"You're practically a virgin again, Kakashi. Do you think that's the problem? She might think that you suck in bed." Asuma offered his macho advice.

"I don't care," Kakashi answered after another swig from the bottle. "I can't think of anyone else. I just know that she's the one for me. Just as Ino and Shikamaru knew that they were the only one for each other. I can't help but hope that it'll be the same for me and Anko. She has a soft side believe it or not. But I wouldn't trade it for her other traits, but seeing her vulnerable makes me ache—makes me want to be the lucky bastard beside her."

"God have mercy on your poor, tormented soul. Kakashi, a man has to act like the man, by the sound of your poetry crap, if a relationship does happen between the two of you, she's the one that's going to be wearing the pants. Do you know why that is, Hatake?"

Kakashi shook his head 'no'.

Asuma picked up a peanut between his thumb and forefinger to show Kakashi its delicateness.

"It's because your balls are the size of this peanut," Asuma smirked.

Kakashi frowned, tempted to punch his friend in the face. But, he knew that Asuma always said something profound apart from the obscene analogies.

"You're coddling her, you're hands are always on the bike. She won't be able to learn anything else if you won't let her go. She knows that you're a nice guy. She knows that you would never leave her, so she takes advantage of those things. She sees your love as a commodity, something that will always be available to her. But, if, and I say 'if', you want her to learn that you are someone that is important to her, you have to leave. You have to let go of her."

"What if she doesn't want me?" Kakashi asked.

"You know the answer," Asuma looked to his friend. "Do you really want me to have to say it?"

"I need to hear you say it." Kakashi uttered as he prepared himself for a blow.

"If she doesn't want you," Asuma eased into the answer. "It's the end. You've done enough and it's time to let go and move on."

"But, Asuma…ten years! I've been waiting for ten years." Kakashi gulped down the rest of his beer. "How come you never told me this before?"

"I've told you before, but this is the first time you've listened."

"Damn it, I just want to punch something. I just want to—" Kakashi was cut off when Asuma's fist connected with his cheek.

"Thanks man," Kakashi got up and readied himself to throw a punch back. "But, Kurenai told me to get you home before four; you have to go to the bank in the morning."

"Hey, Kakashi, listen up." Asuma threw another punch, this time aimed at Kakashi's gut. "I wear the pants."

The two detached themselves from the bar counter and started to fight. A punch to the nose a sucker punch to the stomach, it was all the same. The friends were soon wrestling on the floor as the manager called the police. Very soon, both men sported black eyes, bloodied noses, and bruised everything else, as they were hauled off in cuffs to the police station.

"Now, Kurenai won't want to have babies with you." Kakashi laughed.

"And you'll give Anko a heart attack with a mug like that." Asuma retorted.

An officer took a phone number from Asuma and dialled it before handing the receiver back.

_/Hello, how is he?/_ Kurenai's voice was sick with worry having seen the caller ID as the police station.

"He's fine," Asuma replied.

Kurenai immediately hung up.

"Damn it, Kurenai!" Asuma groaned. "That was my only phone call."

"So much for wearing the pants, huh, Asuma?" Kakashi was elated at the event's outcome despite his aching ribs and bloodied face.

"You're just lucky that you're in a separate cell, or I'd bloody that pretty-boy face of yours."

"Lights out, you two," the guard warned them.

XXXX

The next day, Kurenai bailed both men out, her anger steeped her features. Once all the paperwork was done, she marched up to her husband and smacked him a good one on the back of his head.

"And I hope that your teeth fall out from that one." She fumed. "And just so you and everyone here knows, we won't be making a baby for a month!"

"But, Kurenai!"

Kakashi leaned in to whisper into his friend's ear. "I think that she's wearing the pants."

"Give her a few days, and we'll be making babies left and right, Hatake." Said grumpily although there was hint of doubt in his swollen eyes.

A/N:

Hello, dearest readers. I am glad that you are still reading this. I was so happy when I finished this that I had to upload it right away. This chapter focuses more on Anko and Kakashi's relationship, or there lack of. But, it was an enjoyable chapter to write, and it connects Kakashi with other characters he's associated with in the actual Naruto series. I hope that you'll forgive me with the long waits in between chapters, but I hope you know that I am doing all I can to get them written and uploaded for your enjoyment as fast as possible. Please tell me your thoughts no matter how insignificant you think the may be to me. Any points made about my writing is always welcomed. Thank you for your continued support!


	6. Fated Luck

**Windy Days**

_**Chapter Six: Fated Luck**_

If there was such a thing as luck, Naruto believed that the Gods must have been stingy with it when it came to him. It was now the second day in a row that he accidentally locked himself out of his car. Yesterday, the first time he locked himself out, it had been during a downpour and by the time he managed to walk back to his apartment to retrieve his spare key, he was soaked to the bone. And now today, the skies were still crying rain, but to make his life a little more difficult, the wind was blowing the raindrops in every direction. His jacket was more insufficient since the rain jacket he had on yesterday was sitting in a soaking pile of laundry.

He took a peek into his car and spied the silver glint of his keys on the car floor wedged between the seat and the door. The keys had fallen out of his pocket, as he exited, along with his wallet. His cellphone on the other hand was still propped up in a spot above the cup holders in its stand, charging.

"Damn," Naruto grumbled before pitifully pulling the collar of his hoodless jacket to cover as much of his face. His cheeks were already a cherry red because of the cold, the tips of his ears a blushing pink, and the tiny drops of rain were little slaps against his numbing face.

The young rocker attempted to walk home, but it was difficult to see a meter ahead of him because of dark skies and the condensed outpour of water. His cotton shirt under his jacket and well-worn jeans were soaked through. In a matter of minutes he was shivering in the cold. He tried to find a haven to wait out the rain, but the streets were devoid of people and it was already too late for most stores to be open. So, he soldiered on and walked, a little uncertain of his bearings. Then, a few yards away, he spotted a bus stop, one complete with a bench. Naruto figured that it would provide him with more shelter than standing out in the open and who knows, the bus might actually come for once.

After waiting for over an hour, it was clear to him that no bus would be coming. Damn the rain, damn the wind, damn his idiocy for shutting the damn door before making sure he had his keys, wallet, and phone. He grumbled as he staked out for any passing car. His lips quivered as his teeth chattered uncontrollably. The next car he saw, he was going to get it to stop, and he didn't care if he got killed in the process. Anything was better than freezing his ass off.

XXXX

One thing that Sakura hated after a fourteen hour shift at work was running across a big, dark parking lot to her car. By the time she had the key into the ignition, her hair was flat with moisture and her uniform pasted onto her shivering skin. The worst thing about having an older car was the fact that not only did the AC didn't work during the summer, the heater tended to malfunction as well, usually when it was needed the most.

"Come on, turn on!" she urged the heater with a slap on the dash. Her windows were fogged up and was going to stay that way unless she got the heater working. She waited a few more minutes until the car warmed up a bit more before trying to turn the heat back on. This time, someone up there must have heard her threatening pleas.

"Yes!" She puffed out a relieved sigh as the fogged up windshield started to clear to reveal the heavy splattering of rain. "Okay, now, don't turn off."

Sakura turned on her headlights, backed out of her parking spot, and made it onto a main street. She was about to turn left onto the road leading to the highway, when a construction-orange sign informed her that the road was closed due to flooding and possible landslides.

She cursed and made an illegal U-turn. Now, she had to take the long way home and drive through narrow roads to the next exit. Her knuckles were white as she gripped the steering wheel. Even with the bright headlights, she could only see a few feet ahead of her car. All the traffic lights ahead were nothing but blurry spots on a black background. The weather was unforgiving as it lashed out against her tiny, yellow 1995 Volkswagen.

Moments later, like out of a horror movie, there was a blur of movement on her right and then a pale face staring back at her through the windshield. There was only a split second to swerve out of the way. Sakura opted to swerve to the left, risking on-coming traffic as she slammed on the brakes. She cursed in fear as she barely missed the idiot in the middle of the road. Her car, because of her reduced speed, didn't jump the sidewalk or the rails at the opposite side of the road, but it did fishtail and now she was facing the wrong way on the wrong side of the road.

For a moment she could do nothing but stare out the front of her car in total shock. Her breath came in prickly gulps. Her heart beat faster than a punk-band's percussion solo. The incessant pitter-patter of the rain somewhat eased her muddled mind birthing her indignant anger. The idiot almost got himself killed and almost took her with him for the trip.

The lanky, pink-haired woman exited her car with the least grace possible and pivoted toward her target. Uncaring that her uniform was now soaked through because of the rain or that her exposed arms were shivering with gooseflesh, she marched toward the suicidal soul lying in the middle of the road.

"Are you crazy?" She shrieked. "You could have been killed!"

She grabbed the poor sod by the shirt collar and pulled him up that way.

"What kind of idiot runs into the middle of the road?" she shook the limp body like a dishrag until she realized that he'd passed out. His neck, devoid of tension, lolled forward, his hair a brilliant mess. The care taker in her pitied the sorry bloke and took immediate control of the situation. Her fingers settled on the man's neck looking for a pulse. His pulse was fledging, probably steadying from the run to the front of her car, but his skin was heated in a fever.

Sakura brought him off his back on the ground. She literally dragged him to her car, which, for once, luckily, was only a few feet away because of the angle her car tail-spun. She nudged the passenger door open with an awkward pull and a strategic hip-check. She had to lean down with the man's deadweight on her shoulder and back as she tugged on the lever that lowered and pushed back the seat. Luckily, he wasn't one of those bulkily muscled men. She gave a loud grunt as she used the rest of her strength to push the man into the car. Even with the seat pushed all the way back, the man's legs were bent because of his height. He had to have been at least six feet tall, not a lot of men were taller than Sakura's five foot ten model-like frame.

It wasn't until the moment that Sakura had the man laid down on her now soaked seats and turned on the car light so she could look for the bottle of aspirin she kept in her glove compartment that she became aware of just who it was lying in her passenger seat.

"Naruto," she gasped as she dropped the bottle of aspirin onto the floor under his legs. "Crap."

She couldn't help but spot the humour in it. The object of her desire just jumped in front of her car. It was silly actually; but after the weekend getaway at his estate, she couldn't help but wonder how he was doing or if he even thought of her despite the impossibility of it all. A girl could dream, right?

Sakura bent down to grab the bottle as a particularly strong gust of wind blew against her back. She shivered and was reminded that she had to get both of them out of the rain. She closed the passenger door with her knee and rounded the front of the car and entered the driver's side, aspirin bottle in hand.

She shut the door behind her and sat down, her pants adhering to her legs uncomfortably. Sakura turned the car on, and, thankfully, the heat worked. She backed up and did a reverse U-turn of sorts and found herself on the right side of the street on the way home. She took one last check of her patient's fever to see if it had increased in temperature or not. The fever seemed to be sorting itself out without the aid of aspirin although his skin still felt hot to the touch.

It was a silent drive for Sakura had many things keeping her mind occupied and Naruto stayed unconscious even until she reached her apartment. Once the old Beetle was parked in its proper spot, did Sakura try to shake the blond rocker awake.

"Hey, Naruto, wake up." She pulled her hand away from his shoulder when he gave a painful groan in response. "It's going to get cold again if you don't move. I don't think I have the strength to carry you anymore."

His eyes stayed close until the moment he ascertained that he didn't know where he was, he only heard indecipherable murmurs of a woman's voice. With this thought, he jumped up into sitting position scaring Sakura who gave a surprised yelp.

"Where am I? Where did you take me?" he spurted groggily. "Are you an alien?"

It took him a couple minutes for his sight to focus on to the face of the woman who haunted his dreams the past few weeks. He must still be dreaming, or he was surly dead.

"My God," his face crumpled, Naruto was sure that he was dead. He hadn't even found a steady girlfriend yet.

"Wrong person," Sakura smiled and placed a soft, cold hand on his thrumming forehead. "Come on, my place is just up those stairs, it'll be warmer there." She said indicating to the illuminated door; the only light source in the otherwise dark parking garage.

"N-no, please…" he begged. "I don't want to die yet."

"You're not going to die, just get the hell out of my car and follow me up." Sakura's patience limit had been reached. After fourteen hours of work and then getting run off the road and now having a man thinking he was dead really drained her patience supply.

She exited her car and pulled open the passenger side door. She reached out her hand to the weeping baby in her car. Her crush on Naruto was starting to wane after seeing him crying. But, she knew that people dealt with shock differently, so she carefully helped him out of her car and got him into the stairwell leading to the first floor.

"Come on, Naruto, stop crying, you're going to be alright. You just have a little bit of a fever, nothing a little aspirin and rest can't cure." She kept a hand on his shoulder for no other reason than to comfort him.

"I can't stop," he had stopped sobbing, but his eyes still watered. "Are you really Sakura?"

"Yeah, I am," she replied.

The confirmation stopped Naruto's tears completely. He looked up to clearly see that it really was Sakura before him. Her hand on his shoulder started to burn him. Realization hit him hard: he was crying like a baby in front of the last person he wanted to see him cry.

The awkward silence rattled on until they reached her apartment suite. Sakura opened the door with a key, disappeared into the kitchen area, before coming back to the puddle of water in her foyer and the man standing in the center of the said puddle.

"I turned the heater on, so it should get warmer soon. First things first, we have to get out of our wet clothes. I don't think that I have anything that will fit you, but you can try on one of my night shirts, they're pretty big on me. And I have towels and blankets that will cover everything else." Sakura stated.

"Are you sure I'm not dreaming?" Naruto asked her jokingly, "Because you just quoted word for word one of my fantasies."

Sakura gave a dry laugh; she was too tired to deal with this right now. "I'll shower first. The hot chocolate is in the cupboard along with the cups, you'll find a spoon in the second drawer by the sink. If you want to take the aspirin for your fever, I left the pills on the kitchen counter. Make yourself as comfortable as you can. I'll grab some towels for you and the puddles."

Naruto watched the green-eyed beauty as she sashayed across the apartment floor. Despite her now-stringy hair, smudged eye make-up and red cheeks, he still thought her pretty. Internally, he was still beating himself up for the crying and the awkward joke. This was Lee's girl; he had no right to take advantage of her kindness. He pulled off his jacket and shirt. The room was starting to get toasty warm. He rubbed his hands together to warm them up.

Sakura returned with a squeak as she came upon Naruto Uzumaki—the same Naruto Uzumaki who was the lead singer of one of the most famous bands in the world—half naked. He was definitely built like a man, she was wrong about her assumption on his build before. He was all lean muscle and defined.

She cleared her throat to get his attention. He turned to face her and she felt her knees grow weak.

"Um, here are some towels and a couple blankets you can use. Oh, and if you want to use the phone it's right over there." She said pointing to the phone in the far wall near her two-seater couch.

"Thank you," Naruto said. "And I'm sorry for intruding on you like this. I know that Lee will probably beat me up for this."

"How about I'll take a shower and once we're both dry I'll listen to your story. And if I think that it's a good enough reason for running in front of my car, I'll promise to not sick Lee on you. This'll just be our little secret." Sakura took a towel from the pile and paraded off to her bedroom with the only bathroom.

XXXX

Naruto knew that if he was smart, he would use the phone and get someone to pick him up. The sooner he was out of Sakura Haruno's life, the better it was for the both of them. But, the selfish jerk in him, wanted to spend just a little more time with her. So, after talking his conscience out of using the phone, he took a couple aspirins and downed it with tap water from the sink. He had draped a towel over his shoulders and mopped up the puddle he had made on the floor. He could still hear the running water in the other room, and tried to ignore the fact that the woman of his dreams was only a room away, undressed.

Damn him, damn his perverted thoughts, and damn his stupid heart for falling for a woman who would never want him—a woman who was already in a happy relationship with one of his best friends.

"Damn it, Naruto, get it through your thick skull, she's Lee's girl!" he chided himself. "Don't forget it."

When Sakura re-entered the room, she was completely dry, her exotic coloured hair was exceptionally pink that night, or early morning: an observation dependent on the type of person. To Naruto, four o'clock was early morning. His body felt the exhaustion and lack of sleep creep up on him. But, for Sakura, it was still night, because she had another shift later on in the day.

"Sorry I took so long, the water was just so warm," she said as she smiled at him. "Hey, you should take a shower too. I'm sure that there's still some hot water left. I'll go look for something you can wear."

Sakura handed the blond man one of the towels she left for him.

"The one quirk about this apartment is that the only bathroom is in the bedroom. You see, this apartment and the one next door used to be one suite, but the owner built a wall right here." She said as she pointed to the said wall located in the current living area. "But, if you ask the guy next door, I got the better side."

Naruto was unable to get a word in edge-wise, but didn't care so much. He was thoroughly mesmerized by the woman's natural charm. So, he had no choice but to follow her through the only part of the apartment that he hadn't visited yet. They entered her bedroom with a wave of her arm motioning him to enter after her: it was girly enough with the bright red pillows and sheets, the boy band posters (including one of _Soleil_), a vanity complete with a mirror, and the room smelled uniquely of her.

Sakura opened the door to the bathroom and Naruto felt as if he were transported to another world. He'd never seen a bathroom so clean before, the walls were a septic white and all lotions, ointments, and soaps were in see-through cabinets. The floor was tiled as were the walls around the tub. The mirror was large, but not hugely so. The sink was an older style but fulfilled its purpose. Since the rocker hadn't been fortunate enough to know his mother and was raised by men, he never had been so uncomfortable in a bathroom before.

"So, the body wash is here. You can use this shampoo, sorry if it smells like strawberries. And to turn on the shower, you just have to turn this lever thing like so, and then voila!"

She looked at him as if she was expecting him to say something profound, but his mind was still blank.

"Uh," he began. "Thanks."

"It's no problem, just holler when you need dry clothes." That said, Sakura beat a hasty retreat. Why did she have to babble like a geek? Of course, Naruto knew how to operate a shower.

The sooner he was out of her house the better. He was—er—_is_ Lee's friend. Lee being the man she was currently dating. Sakura felt terrible at the thought of Lee. He was nothing but nice to her, a true gentleman. Even though she refused to make their relationship official, he still waited for her. While she, on the other hand, was crushing on his best friend.

Sakura decided that there was no point in worrying about her current love-life, because she knew that in the end of it all, she was the only one who would be walking around with a broken heart. She only had a few more months left and then she'd be able to pay off all her student loans. She wouldn't have to pretend anymore. But what, she wondered, what would it cost her?

"Uh, Sakura?" she heard Naruto call from the bathroom, knocking her out of her reverie.

"Um, I'll be there in a second." She opened her first drawer and pulled out the first shirt she could grab and a pair of baggy sweat pants.

The green-eyed beauty knocked on the door softly. Naruto opened the door a crack.

"Here," she said handing him the clothes.

"Thanks," he quipped, taking the clothes and closing the door once more.

"I'll meet you in the living room. I still have to find out if you're worth saving from Lee's wrath."

"Alright," was his simple reply.

XXXX

Sakura had just finished making two hot chocolates and set them on her round dining set when Naruto exited her room with a towel hanging over his shoulders. The sweat pants she gave him were stretched tightly against his legs and he wasn't wearing the shirt he handed to her.

"They don't fit too well," he stated the obvious. "And the shirt you gave me wasn't a t-shirt. It's one of those hospital shirt thingies."

As proof he held up the scrubs she'd handed him by mistake.

"I'm sorry. I'll get you a shirt." Sakura scurried to retrieve the right shirt. She handed him a dark-red t-shirt which was one of her favourite sleep wear. But, after seeing his build, it was the only shirt big enough to fit him that she had. "Here." He took the shirt and pulled it over his head, it fit him perfectly, unlike the ill-fitting pants.

"Actually, I was just wondering if you worked at the hospital or something. You were wearing one of those shirt things—"

"Scrubs," she supplied.

"Yeah, you were wearing scrubs before." Naruto questioned. "But, I swear, Lee told me that you were a model from London."

Sakura ignored his enquiry until she passed him the cup of hot cocoa and sat across from him on the dining table. Both of them taking long sips before she answered him.

"I'm going to level with you, Naruto." She gave a deep sigh. How could she end up possibly ruining her livelihood and her heart in one night? Should she lie like she had to Lee, or finally tell someone the truth, well, as much of the truth as she could?

"I did model in London when I was younger, but then I realized that modeling didn't help me save the world, like I've always dreamed myself doing. So, I decided to finally go to school after so many years of having my mom pitch the idea. I entered this program here in Konoha and it allowed me to fulfill of my prerequisites in one year before entering medical school. That was a hard year, and it cost me a fortune. But, at the end of it all, I knew that I was finally on my way to saving the world. I finished my doctorate a year and a half ago before I met you guys. I had been working odd hours at the hospital as an on call paramedic for six months until the beginning of this year when I was promoted to become a surgeon under Dr. Tsunade—"

"You know the old lady?" Naruto couldn't help but interrupt. "She's Hinata's doctor, you know?"

"Yeah, I've been present during some of Hinata's check-ups although, she didn't notice me there."

"Does Lee know?" Naruto felt that the information that he was just privy to was confidential.

"No, he doesn't know, Naruto," Sakura answered. "He doesn't know anything about this. And I don't want it getting out, okay?"

"But why?" Naruto asked. As much as he was happy that he knew something about Sakura that Lee didn't, it wasn't something he wanted to keep to himself. "Lee's feelings for you won't change, if that's what you're afraid of."

"That's not what I'm worried about, Naruto." Sakura sighed. "My relationship with Lee is complicated, and I—well, I don't want to hurt him."

"How will telling him that you're a doctor hurt him?" Naruto asked incredulous. "He'd be proud of you. I'm proud of you. You could have lived a much more comfortable life as a model, but instead you chose to turn your life around and serve the rest of humanity instead. If you think that Lee is that shallow to dump you for not being a model, then you should get Dr. Tsunade to give you a check-up. Lee would never—"

Sakura pressed her lips to his to shut him up. She couldn't hear any more about Lee. It was killing her leading him on, but one more word about his kindness was going to kill her out of guilt instead.

Naruto couldn't help but press his lips firmer against hers as he cradled her cheek in his hand. He'd dreamed of this, he'd wanted this. Desire possessed him, then the voice of his conscience pointed out something important: she was Lee's girl.

"Damn it," he swore after pushing her away. "I don't know who you think I am, Sakura, but I'm not this. I'm not someone who would cheat on his best friend."

Tears sprung in her eyes, because her calculating move backfired. She had thought that she could distract Naruto from his questions if she'd kissed him, but instead, he'd mesmerized her with his loyalty.

"Don't get me wrong, you're a great person, anyone would fall in love with you, but I can't." Naruto digressed. "I can't do this to Lee."

He stood up from his seat and grabbed his wet clothes off the floor, put on his shoes.

"I can't stay here." He passed her and made headway to the door. He didn't care if he had to walk in the rain again. He just couldn't stay here with the woman who not only tempted him beyond reason, but the woman who had already won his heart despite himself.

"Naruto," his name on her lips stopped him in his tracks. "The reason why I can't tell Lee is because, when I do tell him everything, I'm going to break his heart. I don't love him in the way he wants me to, but as a woman in my profession, I can't allow him to cage me with his love. I want to be free."

"Everyone wants to be free, but freedom has a price, Sakura." He retorted.

"I know," she agreed. "But, you must know that I'm an ambitious woman, and I've done heartless things to get where I'm at. I will stop at nothing to gain my freedom. I want to be free to save the world, Naruto, that's my freedom. And Lee doesn't fit in that picture, no one does."

"Isn't that backwards? How could you hurt people when you want to save lives?" He finally faced the evocative woman he barely knew, but loved regardless. "How can you want to help people when you think that freedom means being alone?"

"I can do it because the only person who gets hurt is me." She stated, her tears now overflowing. "Nobody will get hurt except for me."

"Are you sure about that?" Naruto's eyes glared at her, "Because I'm pretty hurt right now."

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." She repeated. He walked out, slamming the door.

As Naruto walked along the narrow hallway to the exit, he rubbed the place where she had kissed him. His lips still burned where hers had touched. The kiss was an electric shock to his system, and it threw him for a loop. Yes, he liked her, but she was supposed to like Lee, not him. He felt like the bad guy. He could have stopped her, he was sure of it. He could have done something.

Naruto gave an expatiated sigh reverberating from somewhere deep in his soul. He knew that he couldn't have stopped her kiss, because he didn't want to stop her. Instead of dwelling on his sins, he pulled on his wet jacket. The cold material soaking his borrowed shirt helped him forget for a while. He walked out into the rain once again. Of course, he didn't know where the hell he was, but it was just as well. He didn't want to go home where he was going to be alone. At least out here, he had the wind and rain as company.

XXXX

Back inside, Sakura was still staring at the door. A part of her wondered how she had hurt Naruto Uzumaki of all people. Another part of her wondered if he'd ever kiss her again.

The phone's ringing snapped her out of her musings. Looking at the caller ID, she knew that it was back to work.

_/Haruno, what's up?/_ The voice on the line asked her. _/Secretary said that you needed to talk to me./_

"I can't do it anymore, Anko." Sakura's voice came out as a whoosh. "They're really good guys, and I can't write about them anymore."

There was a definite pause.

_/We have a contract, you can't back out./ _

"You can sue me all you want, but I can't do it anymore." Sakura clutched onto the receiver. "I'll return all your money."

_/What happened, Haruno, don't tell me you actually fell in love with Rock Lee, did you?/_ There was a taunting tone in the editor's voice. _/Or did you fall for the creepy keyboard guy?/_

"No, I didn't, but Lee and Shino are good guys. They're not spoiled, arrogant rich people like you made them out to be."

_/You've been around them for months now; what's changed?/_ Anko's voice became serious. _/Why am I losing my top writer all of sudden? Something has to cause the change./_

"I'm just tired of lying to these people. Naruto and the others are really kind, and they've let me into their lives. I can't go on abusing their trust." Sakura uttered, trying to find what's left of her dignity. "I can't help you ruin their lives with exposés and stories from 'reliable sources' anymore."

_/That's rich, Sakura!/_ Anko laughed on the other end. _/This whole thing was your idea. You wanted money for it, and I gave it to you. You said that you'd have no problem getting the information./_

"Anko, I quit. I don't want to do this anymore."

_/Sakura, tell you what,/_ Anko knew that if she pushed the other woman too far, she'd lose her. _/Just do one last story for me, one covering the concert next week, and then we'll call it quits. That is, if you still want to quit after that. And you can keep the money./_

Sakura knew that she owed her entire education to Anko. If it weren't for Anko taking her on after she quit modelling and moved to a city like Konoha, she wouldn't have been able to pay for medical school, let alone have enough money to pay for rent.

"Okay, deal." Sakura agreed, "Just one more story."

_/And make it a good one,/_ Anko added. _/I have to go, I have a doctor's appointment in a few hours. Ever since my appendix ruptured three weeks ago, the old man's been trying to get me to work less hours. Between the old doctor and Hatake, you'd think I have cancer or something./_

"You should take better care of yourself, Anko," The young surgeon advised. "Or let Kakashi Hatake take care of you. That man's been in love with you for longer than I've known you."

_/I don't need to be taken care of,/_ Anko grumbled. _/I don't need stupid men falling in love with me./_

"You're lucky to have someone you love, love you back." Sakura admitted. "I would give up everything I have if I could have such a guarantee."

_/That's where you and I are different, Sakura. I would never give up everything for some man's love, even if I did share the emotion. And on the record, I don't love Hatake./_

"Then you must be a lot stupider than me." Sakura said absentmindedly. And then after a pause, "I'm sorry, Anko, I didn't know what I was saying. I didn't mean to offend you. Hello? Anko, are you still there?"

Anko didn't hang up until this moment. The words hurt more than she thought it would. Anko thought that the admission of not needing anyone made her stronger, but she felt weak, alone and afraid instead. She had a guarantee, but what if one day Kakashi got tired of waiting? What if he realized that she wasn't worth it?

Sakura hung up on her end and watched the raging storm outside knowing that Naruto was wandering around in it.

"Actually, Anko, we're both stupid. At least where love is concerned." She whispered against the window, her breath fogging up the glass.

Maybe it wasn't luck that brought people in and out of her life. Maybe it was fate, some master plan that she could only see a part of. If that were the case, then Sakura hoped that her story had a happy ending.

XXXX

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N/A:

Hello readers, I know that I'm dragging my feet when it comes to updating, but just so you know, I haven't given up on writing yet. I will write until I finish this story (and Target as well). This chapter focuses more on Sakura's background and her role in the story. I tried really hard to keep her in character, but in this story, she's a lot more mature (probably because of her older age, 25, than in the series).

For Naruto fans, I know that he was emotional and reckless in this chapter, but this is how I viewed him in the anime. Naruto was always the first to blurt things out and rush into a battle without thinking.

I would like to thank the readers who have reviewed and stayed with me all through the process, thus far (please don't give up on me!), and for those who wait ever so patiently for me to update. I really appreciate your dedication and patience to myself these stories. Just know that I don't forget about you. I alway think of you when I write a sentence or paragraph of each and every chapter. These stories aren't just for me anymore, they are for you to enjoy.

******Spoiler******

We now know that Sakura is HMH Magazine's mystery writer. Actually, here's a little Days Series trivia for you. I came up with the name of HMH Magazine by simply using Sakura, Anko, and Kakashi's surnames' initials: **H**aruno **M**itarashi **H**atake. So, ever since I've written the magazine into the story, I've always known that Sakura would be the informant for HMH.


	7. Hospitals and Heartbreak

**Chapter 7: Hospitals and Heartbreaks**

Naruto dreamed. In that dream he could eat as much ramen as he wanted and he never felt full. He ate bowl after bowl and his hunger only grew and grew. For once he didn't mind dreaming. It was then that he stopped his eating.

"Wait, am I dreaming?" he asked as the empty bowl in front of him slowly refilled.

Upon realizing that he was in fact dreaming catapulted him back to the waking world.

He blinked a couple of times and rubbed his eyes to get the crusty sand out of the corners of his eyes. In the septic-white room, it became very obvious to him that he wasn't in his apartment. But, where was he? Did he actually eat that much ramen, and this, in fact, was the dream? He scooted back on the bed and propped his back against the natural incline of the bed. His limbs felt weak, but he could still move them. His neck especially felt stiff, as if he were in an awkward position for a long time. And his heart had a dull ache as if it was stretched like an elastic band and then placed back into his chest.

He sat quietly for a few minutes as he eyed the strange machines surrounding him. What had happened? The last thing he remembered was kissing Sakura, but then again, that could have been a dream too. Actually, that made more sense. He had no business kissing her in real life anyhow. The blond man brought a finger to his lips, as if remembering the kiss.

"Did I?" he said aloud to himself. "Naw, I couldn't have. I wouldn't have. And there's no way on God's green earth she would have!"

Naruto shook his head, clearing his thoughts as confusion set in. Everything was unfamiliar to him, and the eerie quiet of the room except for the incessant beep of the machine monitoring his heartbeat freaked him out a little bit. It was like being in a science fiction movie where the aliens were preparing a poor human to be probed. And the band singer definitely didn't want to be probed. Naruto took a cautious look around the room expecting little green men to pop up from behind the machines and the side of his bed to experiment on him. There was a click as the lock-piece on the door disengaged. Naruto flails his arms back and quickly pulls the blanket which had fallen to his waist back to his chest. He lies back on the bed and pretends to be asleep. Maybe if the aliens thought that he wasn't conscious, he could somehow think of a way to get out of this room.

"Hello my sleeping prince, how are you today?" a voice greeted in mock cheer. Naruto could hear the underlying strain and sorrow in the speaker's voice.

Something about the voice sounded familiar to him, but he couldn't match it up with a face. And since his eyes were closed, he couldn't see who the person was.

The one thing he could tell was that the voice was female.

"You know Naruto, I really didn't mean to drive you away. I should have run out after you." The feminine voice orated. Naruto could feel her fingers softly comb through his hair. "I'm a doctor for heaven's sake, I knew that you were sick, and you had no place to go. Now, it's my fault that you're here. Maybe when you wake up you won't be angry with me anymore. Please forgive me. I promise you that kiss didn't mean anything, it was just the heat of the moment, you know?"

Kiss? What kiss was this woman talking about? He hadn't wanted to kiss anyone since…

"Damn it, Sakura, you can't apologize to guy when he's knocked out." The voice reprimanded. "Besides, it wasn't like you regretted the kiss or anything. The guy's a pretty good kisser, at least while it lasted."

Now, Naruto could feel her breath on his cheek before she kissed him there. If he was the blushing type, he'd be bright red. He'd finally matched the voice to the face. So, it wasn't a dream. Sakura had kissed him, or he had kissed her. What was he supposed to do now? Should he pretend to wake up or tell her that he didn't mind the kiss either? But, this was all wrong. He shouldn't be plotting clandestine trysts behind one of his best friends' back. Not with the woman Lee complete adored. He wasn't that kind of man. He had to do something so that no one will get hurt.

He cracked open his eyes slowly as if he wasn't awake before that moment. He blinked his baby-blues a couple of times until it finally focused on Sakura's face. Her pink hair looked pallid compared to its regular vibrancy. And her deep-green eyes were frozen, trained on his face.

"Sakura," he said his voice ending in a croak and a shooting pain coursed to his chest.

"Naruto," she said his name, the last syllable ending in a squeak.

And then the world stopped. Naruto didn't know what else to say to her. At least, words that wouldn't make him sound like a complete idiot. He liked her very much and inconveniently so.

"Thanks for looking after me," He managed to say without making a fool of himself.

"Oh no, it's my fault that you're in here in the first place." Sakura said as she shook her head.

"So, what happened to me then?" Naruto asked deciding that the best way to get through this was to play it straight and honests. "I don't remember much after we uh-um, after we…the kiss."

"Ah, yes…that," Sakura blushed at the memory. "Well, Lee went out looking for you when you didn't return to your apartment. He called everyone you knew to see if you went out without telling him, but that wasn't the case. He found you a few blocks away at a bus stop then called for an ambulance and got you here before you died."

"So, Lee saved my life again—as if I don't already owe him enough." Naruto sighed. Now, it was another reason on a really long list why he had to stay away from Sakura.

"Yeah, you almost died that night, Naruto." Sakura whispered, barely audible. "You suffered severe hypothermia. When Lee found you, he couldn't feel your heartbeat. He said that you were huddled under a bench at a bus stop. He called the ambulance right away. But, when the paramedics came, you were running a high fever and you were barely breathing. They tried to resuscitate you and performed CPR. When you got to the hospital, your body went into shock. I guess the medics tried to revive you too quickly and changing your body's temperature from being too cold to too hot caused your blood pressure to decrease dramatically."

For a moment, panic spread over Naruto's features.

"What does that mean?" he asked Sakura. "Is there something wrong with me?" The singer placed a hand over his chest, realizing the pain wasn't figurative.

Sakura shook her head 'no' but tears streamed down her face. She tried to smile through her tears with mixed results.

"You're alive aren't you?" she started. "Luckily, Dr. Tsunade hadn't left for the day yet, she's the only one who knew that that in severe hypothermia cases the fastest way for rewarming would be by using an extracorporeal technique. So, Dr. Tsunade and the nurses had to bring you straight to the OR and use the CPB to pump warmed blood through your body. They had to cut you open and it's my fault."

"Why are you crying? Like you said, I'm still alive, right?" Naruto commented and took a long moment to take everything in before he spoke again.

He pulled the collar of his hospital gown away from his body so he can look at the bandaged area in the center of his chest. He knew that it wasn't a tiny scar, but a long one that went down the length of his chest to the highest point of his abdomen.

"Who cares if I have a scar, you know, some women think that scars look sexy on a guy; makes them look manly. So, basically, you've done me a huge favour. I can tell the ladies that I got stabbed or something. It'll totally boost up my street cred." He said grinning, now. "You don't have to cry anymore, Sakura. Pretty women like you shouldn't cry for idiots like me. I mean all of this wouldn't have happened if I didn't lock my keys in my car two days in a row."

"I don't usually cry like this, I mean I'm a doctor, we're trained to detach ourselves from patients." The green-eyed medic said with a warble of a laugh as she wiped the tears from her face. "When I came in for my shift, and found out that you were on my patient list, I felt terrible that I almost got you killed."

"How about let's call it even?" Naruto tried to placate the crying doctor. "I kissed you and you tried to kill me. I think that it's pretty even, don't you think?"

"What are you talking about?" Sakura stopped wiping at her eyes and stared at the lead singer's blue ones. "You really don't remember do you?"

"Of course I remember." Naruto looked over his shoulder as the incessant beeping of the machine monitoring his heart quickened; breaking their eye contact.

"I kissed you." Sakura said mutedly. "I was the one who kissed you and you pushed me away because of Lee. You went off on a tirade about how nothing can ever happen between us because I was Lee's girl."

"Oh," Naruto's eyes widened at the memory, unable to voice anything else. The memory now came to the forefront of his mind, and he could remember how he almost gave in, how her lips felt heavenly against his like a siren's song.

"I really didn't mean for it to happen. You kept talking about Lee as if he were some sort of superhero or something and I just wanted you to shut up. I wasn't thinking straight. It was just a momentary lapse of teenage hormones and it just happened." Sakura explained. "I understand if you're mad at me. I know that you're a good guy, Naruto, and you really care about the people you love. I don't want you to think that I don't care about Lee's feelings, because I do—very much so."

Naruto's heart dropped. So, this is why Sakura was so worried. She thought that he would ruin her relationship with Lee by telling the bassist about their kiss. And here he thought that she liked him. Of course Sakura likes Lee. If he thought that he actually had a chance with Sakura, that her kiss meant something, he really must be dead in the head as Shikamaru once said at a practice.

Naruto smiled. "We'll just keep it a secret. Like you said, it didn't mean anything, right? So, no harm and no foul. I won't say a word to Lee."

Sakura nodded in agreement. So, it didn't mean anything for him either. Good.

"Thank you, Naruto."

There was a pause between the two as if a big decision was just made. But the moment didn't last long enough for either of them to second-guess their decision.

"Did Naruto save your life again while I was away?" Lee cheerfully charged into the room upon hearing Sakura thank the blond man on the hospital bed. "He should be thanking you for saving his life."

"Ah no, Lee, I was just—um…"Sakura trailed off, searching for a plausible explanation.

"Sakura was just thanking me for promising to take better care of myself and not make you guys worry about me. According to Sakura, you saved my life again, Lee, I really should be thanking you." Naruto grinned genuinely. "How can I make it up to you?"

"Remember the time you saved Sakura from falling down the hill and I was not there to save her?" Lee queried. "I still owe you from that time. How about we call it even?"

"Sure, whatever you want, bushy-brow," The _Soleil_ singer laughed then grimaced at the pain in his chest, realizing that even though he and Lee were the ones acting as if they owed each other, it really was Sakura who owed them for both times. "We'll call it even."

"What are you doing here anyway, Lee?" Sakura asked the dark-haired man.

"Well, I thought that we could go out for lunch. You owe me, remember?" Lee replied.

"What could you possibly owe Lee?" Naruto directed his question to Sakura.

"If you haven't guessed already, I finally told Lee that I'm not a supermodel and that I got permanent residency here at Konoha General Hospital." Sakura replied, smiling at her green-clad counterpart. "At first Lee couldn't believe that I was a doctor, but when I showed him my scrubs and my licence, he finally relented. The only thing he asked after I told him everything is to tell him when my lunch break was so he can join me."

"Yup, and I arrived here on time for your lunch break. So, why are we are wasting our time here babysitting Naruto? Come on, Sakura-chan, I wanted to take you to that new place across the street." Lee said taking the pretty pink-haired doctor by the hand.

"But, Naruto," Sakura started.

"Don't worry about me, Sakura: I've lived off of worst things than Jell-O and ice cream." Naruto replied brightly. "Actually, if you can get me some good pistachio ice cream, I promise to be the best patient in the wing."

"Sure, Naruto, whatever you want." Sakura laughed at the joke as she pried her hand out of Lee's grasp. "I'll tell one of the nurses that you're awake now, I'm sure Dr. Tsunade would want to see you for a checkup."

The blond singer watched his best friend and the best woman in the world walk away. The door shut tightly behind the couple. He took a much needed sigh of relief. For a moment he thought that Lee would find out everything. It was as if the words: 'I kissed Sakura Haruno' were tattooed on his forehead for everyone to read.

XXXX

**At HMH Magazine**

Anko Mitarashi paced the length of her office a few more times before sitting in her swiveling office chair. After suffering a few weeks off (and an overwhelming amount of boredom) because of her surgery, Anko had returned to find a gigantic pile of paperwork—and a big hole where the feature story of _HMH_'s next issue should be—waiting on her desk. A part of her worried about what she should do next, and the other part just wanted to hide from all the problems _HMH_ has given her. Preferably, if she hadn't been so bored, she'd be back in bed with Kakashi waiting on her hand and foot.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a light knock on her office door. Upon seeing the object of her thoughts on the other side of the glass panelled entry, a brief rush of heat covered her face before she willfully brought her body back in control.

"Come in," she muttered, as she tried to look busy by continuing to gnaw on a pen and reading a fluff article for the next issue about spring dresses.

"We need to talk, Anko." Kakashi entered her office and closed the door behind him.

"Okay, shoot," she replied, still reading the article in front of her, afraid that if she looked up, he'd see that he had her flustered.

"It's serious," the photographer noted. "And, I would appreciate it if you acted like you cared about what I'm going to say."

Anko rolled her eyes before making eye contact with Kakashi. But, when she met his gaze, fear entered her eyes. There was something wrong. There was something different in the way that he was looking at her, and for some reason it scared her.

"What do you want, Hatake?" Anko barked curtly since anger was her great equalizer when it came to dealing with her deeper emotions. "I don't have time to deal with your feelings right now."

Anger flashed in Kakashi's eyes, and shame filled Anko.

"Sorry, I didn't mean that," she apologized. "I'm just trying to finish all this work on my desk and it hasn't been a walk in the park so far. I didn't mean to take it out on you. You've been a real pal, helping me out the last three weeks."

When the anger didn't leave Kakashi's eyes at her apology, Anko started to worry.

"What do you want to talk about?" she asked more kindly, her heart now thrumming painfully in her chest. She wasn't used to seeing Kakashi so angry before.

"As your _pal_," Kakashi spat the word out. "I want to know what it means to you. You know my feelings for you haven't changed, but I wanted to know if your feelings for me have changed."

"Can we do this another time?" Anko begged off. She didn't want to face the ugliness buried deep within her to find an answer. "After we get next issue to print, I'll take you out and we'll talk about it for as long as you want."

Kakashi wanted to give her time, and he wanted to give her space, and all the freedom she needed, but the question still haunted him. Not knowing her answer only prolonged his agony, only prolonged hope that didn't exist. Kurenai was right; he couldn't just wait on Anko forever. He needed to move on and meet someone new, someone who welcomed his attention: a woman who would love him back.

"We have to talk about this now." He said slowly, still hesitant about being forceful. "I think that we've avoided the question long enough and I don't think I can waste another moment of my life on something that's never going to happen."

"What are you going to do if you don't like the answer?" the editor enquired.

"I would have to leave," Kakashi replied simply. "And move on."

"What do you mean you're leaving?" Anko asked, panic settled in and, partnered with fear and anxiety, it created an anger hot enough to burn a hole through the man in front of her. "Are you threatening me? Because, I'm not going to fall for it, Hatake! Listen to me, if this is some roundabout way to get me to say that I need you—then you win. But, don't leave _HMH _when we're so close to finally making a name for ourselves."

"You mean, when _you're_ so close to finally making a name for _yourself_." Kakashi retorted, finally finding his stance on his mission to get a straight answer from Anko. "I don't care about _HMH_. I've never cared about _HMH Magazine_."

"Traitor! I gave you a job and helped you become somebody in this city and what do I get in return? A slap in the face! How could you abandon me when you know that this next story is going to make us?"

"A job isn't what I wanted from you," The photographer replied sardonically. "Sometimes I wish that's all I wanted from you, but both of us know that we can't undo the past. One thing's for sure, though, I can't stay here and be some kind of pet to you. Don't you think that I deserve more than that from you? I'm your oldest friend and I'm someone who loves you regardless of whether you deserve it or not."

Kakashi regarded Anko how an alcoholic who has been sober for a couple months would regard a bottle of beer. After spending more time being a third wheel to Asuma and Kurenai, he got to see firsthand what a healthy relationship was, and after comparing the married couple's relationship with the one he had with Anko, it was clear that Anko didn't feel the same way about him. He knew that he had to get out of this toxic relationship with Anko and fast; but as with other times before, he was tempted to stay. His resolve was slipping, because he never wanted to hurt her. But, he also knew that people never changed. They never changed unless they wanted to. And the excess of six years should have been enough time to get Anko to change, but she still didn't.

"I thought you valued loyalty above everything else?" she knew that she was playing dirty, but didn't care. "I thought you cared for me, even loved me."

Kakashi played his trump card: anger.

"I'm not a dog, Anko, I'm a man!" his gritted his teeth to lower the decibel of his voice. "Besides, loyalty goes both ways. Do you think that dating that cop, Ibiki, when you clearly knew I'm in love with you is loyalty? If so, define for me what your definition of the word is."

Anko couldn't answer as she was struck speechless. She had done this to Kakashi Hatake. She had the sole responsibility of having driven away the only man in the entire world who loved her. She knew that the situation she put them in wouldn't last, but something in her always wished that she'd be proven wrong. That he would never leave her.

In the moments that followed, Kakashi's anger waned, and all that was left was a silent room full of tension.

"I'm sorry, Anko, I can't do this anymore." Kakashi stared coldly at her, forcing her to understand that this was an ultimatum. "I hate the fact that I'm probably going to regret all this in the morning while you get a goodnight's rest. But, I really can't do this anymore if nothing changes. I'll give you some time to think about your decision."

Kakashi walked away. For the first time in all the years he'd known Anko Mitarashi, he'd walked away. He drew the line. He took his last stand. He paid the price.

There was an audible click as the door closed behind the famed photographer. Anko watched the only man she could imagine spending the rest of her life with, walk away. Bitterness filled her. In the silence of the room, all she could hold on to was the anger she'd kept at the back of her mind since her mother died. Since Kakashi took his love with him the same way her father did all those years ago, something in the editor snapped. A part of her hated Kakashi for bringing up the ugliness she had worked so hard to supress all these years. But, now she was forced to deal with the loss, the pain and the anger that covered the ugliness. Tears she hadn't shed in over a decade cascaded down her cheeks with abandon.

"I knew that he would leave. Men always leave, mother." She sobbed into the shirtsleeve of her grey-knit top as she clumsily mopped at her eyes with the heel of her hand. "He never came back for you. Even when you were dying, he didn't come back. You were wrong, he never really loved you."

The wounds that her father had left had become a deep fissure in her heart; in her soul. She could recall the numerous nights when she could hear her mother's sobs through the wall of her room and how she, Anko, had tried to shut out her mother's wretched cries begging for her father to come back, to love her again. It broke her heart then, and it had festered into something indescribable now. There was no known definition for it, even for an accomplished editor like herself.

Now, she was in her early thirties and became such a hard and impenetrable iron shell of a woman that not even Kakashi Hatake's six years of unconditional love could heal it, could soothe her shredded heart. The last time she saw the man she had once called father was at her mother's funeral. He was only in the back and stayed for less than half an hour. She hated him then for even showing up because he was too late.

People always talked about her poor mother, and how her father was such a wicked man for leaving her. But, no one spoke about the little girl who was left behind; no one cared what happened to Anko Mitarashi, the daughter of Mugen Mitarashi, the heartless business mogul and Fuu Kasumi, daughter from a long line of tea-merchants.

After her mother's death, her father followed less than a year after. Cosmic retribution, someone had defined it for her in two words. But, to Anko it was more of a consolation prize. She had lost both parents, and lost the only people who could ever love her like a family: she had lost a family. So, Anko lived without love for years to come, loathing the word and despising its meaning until Kakashi came along and gave her a taste of it. But the emotion, the feeling, were so foreign to her, that her heart couldn't take it, his kindness, his charm, and warm smiles, all the while not expecting anything in return. Her soul rejected it, was suspicious of it and now that she was without it, even for less than an hour, she craved it.

Instead of making Kakashi Hatake dependent on her, Anko had only succeeded in making herself addicted to him. She wanted him back.

Anko stared through the glass wall separating her office from Kakashi's for so long, she didn't even notice the time passing. Her eyes were puffy and reddened from unleashed tears and her knit shirt stretched and deformed from tugging and using the swath material in lieu of tissue paper. So muddled and distracted was her mind that it took her a while to realize that the telephone in front of her was ringing.

Anko picked it up right before it went into voicemail. A tiny part of her hoped that it was Kakashi begging to come back to her—a bigger part of her silently promising to treat him better.

"Kakashi," she answered out of breath mid-sob.

_/Anko, it's Jiraya. We have to talk about your current employment arrangement and how it effects Konoha Press. Please see me first thing tomorrow morning at my office./_ Jiraya requested, ignoring the fact that Anko had called him Kakashi. _/Can I count on you being there by nine o'clock?/_

"Yes," Anko sighed before promptly hanging up the phone, successfully cutting off Jiraya's gleeful, acerbic reply.

She knew that Jiraya finally got her and shortly after their nine o'clock appointment, she'd be out of a job. That's not to say that she won't fight for it, but Jiraya must have found a way to fire her, a loop hole in her supposed iron-clad contract, or else he wouldn't sound so happy.

"It doesn't look like you'll be getting a happy ending," Anko muttered to herself referring to her business, _HMH Magazine_. There was nothing left to do. There was nothing left to cling to or hold on to. The rumour mills had dried up for _Soleil_ and her little company was in shambles. The only thing that would be worst is if Sakura quit on her or if Shikamaru Nara followed through with his lawsuit threat.

Anko pulled her exhausted body from her desk and left the office, locking the door on her way out. Tears threatened to fall again, upon realizing that she would now have to face the cruelty of the real world alone. People stared and whispered at each other upon seeing her adding to her insecurity and vulnerability.

"Cosmic retribution," she breathed. "This is what I deserve."

For the first time in seventeen years, she felt truly alone. And this time, there were no foster parents to distract her from the pain, and there was no false comfort in pretending that everything would be okay. Today, she would only have the tattered remains of her heart and an endless pool of tears as company.

A/N:

I know, I know, where have I been these last nine months? Honestly, I've been dealing with my health and the many stresses of my job. And it's only recently that I've found the time to write again. I'd like to say that I'm back on my writing wagon, but I don't want to get people's hopes up just in case I disappoint. I will update 'Target' next, and hopefully soon, as I have about half of the next chapter written. I'm really happy to get back into writing, hopefully I will stay inspired long enough to get these stories out. Please pray for me, and if you don't believe in prayer, believe that I will finish these stories.

I would like to thank those of you who have reviewed and supported me all this time. And to my faithful readers, especially those who have followed me since the conception of my 'Days Series', I applaud and thank you from the deepest wells of gratitude in my heart for your unfailing support.

If any of you got my reference of Mugen and Fuu (Anko's parents in this story) you get bonus points. Fifty points for Gryffindor! And for those of you who didn't, you're missing out on a great, classic anime. I might use these characters in a future chapter, I haven't decided anything for certain, though.

-phoebe.a


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